This soulful adaptation finds our singing Cinderella stuck with a crooked foster mother and two evil sisters who try to keep her from singing at the Great Gospel Convention.  No slipper, but an enchanted melody for the prince to search for and find!

From School Library Journal Numerous "Cinderella" variants abound, including John L. Steptoe's Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (HarperCollins, 1987), and Robert San Souci's Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella (S & S, 1998), but none so distinctly African American as in this version, which draws on the gospel music tradition. Set in a southern swamp, it has the usual elements of a poor, persecuted young girl and mean stepmother and stepsisters. But instead of a prince looking for his princess, a mother, Queen Rhythm, looks for a Daughter of Rhythm to take her place in the Great Gospel Choir. A convention is held to find that one special voice. The prince here is the choir's piano-playing Prince of Music. Cinderella, of course, turns out to be the long-lost daughter of Queen Rhythm. She is finally located through a house-to-house search, and takes her rightful place in the choir beside her mother, accompanied by the prince on the piano. Diaz's double-page acrylics fill the spreads with humorous, bold, and colorful images. A delightful universal tale with an added musical twist. Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. .