Clayton Byrd

Clayton is the main protagonist of the novel, and though never stated explicitly, a pre-adolescent boy of color. Clayton likes his teacher, his friend Omar, and the lizard at his school. He does not care for typical things boys like, like baseball and sports, instead he lives and breathes for music and the blues. He loves to play the blues harp (harmonica) with his grandfather Cool Papa in his blues group the Bluesmen. At the beginning of the novel, Clayton wants nothing more than “twelve bars and to be a true bluesman among bluesmen” (4). Clayton adores his grandfather and the generous attention he gives Clayton, appreciating especially the way Cool Papa spoke to him or “broke it down, plain. Man to man. Even though he was a boy” (11). As this is a young adult novel, most young adults will understand the feeling of pride Clayton feels, when...