An artful, second-person narrative dives into the heart and hopes and dreams of Carlos Santana. He wanted to play music that made angels sing, like his father did. But his father’s music didn’t speak to young Carlos, let alone inspire angels, when he tried playing it himself. The narrative illuminates details of Santana’s life, from economic hardship in Mexico as a child to struggles with racism and language barriers after moving to the United States, to his pride in his mestizo heritage, to the inspiration he found in Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. Through it all is his ongoing search for the sound that would make angels sing. He found it when he eventually fused blues music, jazz, and the rhythms and sounds of his homeland. An account that culminates with Santana taking the stage at Woodstock is paired with full-page, richly hued, stylized paintings in acrylic and colored marker. An author’s note, bibliography, and “further listening” suggestions are included. (Ages 7–11)

Winner of a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor and a Robert F. Sibert Honor!

Celebrate music icon Carlos Santana in this vibrant, rhythmic picture book from the author of the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters.

Carlos Santana loved to listen to his father play el violín. It was a sound that filled the world with magic and love and feeling and healing—a sound that made angels real. Carlos wanted to make angels real, too. So he started playing music.

Carlos tried el clarinete and el violín, but there were no angels. Then he picked up la guitarra. He took the soul of the Blues, the brains of Jazz, and the energy of Rock and Roll, and added the slow heat of Afro-Cuban drums and the cilantro-scented sway of the music he’d grown up with in Mexico. There were a lot of bands in San Francisco but none of them sounded like this. Had Carlos finally found the music that would make his angels real?