- Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award - Evan Turk
- Outstanding Nonfiction Book Award, Children's Literature Council, Southern California
- A New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2017
- NPR's Best Books of 2017 List
- New York Public Library's 2017 Best Books for Kids Top 10
- Chicago Public Library's 2017 Best Books for Kids List
- Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature's Best Books List 2017
- "Windows and Mirrors" Selection by the New England Children's Booksellers Association
- Parents' Choice Awards Gold Medal
- California Reading Association Eureka! Nonfiction Children's Book Awards Gold Medal
- Junior Library Guild Selection, Fall 2017
"The words and pictures here mix exuberance with melancholy. Mahin’s words have a beat all their own, capturing the lows and highs with poetic verve. Turk’s watercolor, ink, and collage artwork fills pages, exploding with a neon intensity—the equivalent of a dynamic guitar riff . . . Read the book, then get kids the music.” (Booklist)
"This poetic celebration of Muddy Waters' musical truth is lifted still higher by Turk's extraordinary art.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Lyrically told with a lilting cadence by debut author Mahin. . . . Turk’s mixed-media illustrations leap off the page. . . . The soul of the blues sings out through the pages.” (School Library Journal)
“Like Waters’s music after landing in the Windy City, Turk’s artwork is electric—wild strokes of marker and oil pastel vibrate with energy. And Mahin’s equally vivid writing will almost certainly send readers after Waters’s catalogue.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Mahin’s text is engaging, rhythmic, soulful, and written to reflect the blues that influenced Muddy Waters. . . . Turk’s expressionistic mixed-media illustrations, many of them double-page spreads, aptly convey the emotions associated with Muddy Waters’s music.” (The Horn Book)
