Carlos Santana: Sound of the Heart, Song of the World

Gr 1–4—Born in Jalisco, Mexico, Carlos Santana grew up worshipping his father, a mariachi musician who taught his son to play the violin and encouraged him to follow in his footsteps. However, the future icon grew to resent the music that took his father away from the family for months at a time. After a family move to Tijuana, young Santana heard rhythm and blues on the radio and it became a siren song to him, a call to play the electric guitar and fuse this music with the traditions that he learned as a child. While the text tells a fairly straightforward and detailed account of Santana's life, it is the artwork (created by the same artist who did cover art for Santana's Shaman album) that is full of vivid, flowing colors that shine as it captures the soul of Santana and his work. The triumphs of the guitarist's musical life, including his first big breakthrough at Woodstock, are relegated to the author's note, cutting the story off just when he reaches a pinnacle.