“Mixing tireless reporting with nuanced musical and cultural insights, Wald’s Shout, Sister, Shout! is about as good as musical reparations get.”

"Rosetta Tharpe's story, salvaged here by Wald, a professor of English at George Washington University, is very much a woman's story, refreshingly free of Svengalis and impresarios. Her picaresque journey from Pentecostal child prodigy in Cotton Plant, Ark., to preteen phenom on Chicago's church circuit to Cotton Club darling to one of gospel's first recording starts in constantly surprising."

“Ward’s illuminating biography brings the deliciously flamboyant singer to life as gospel’s first superstar and a seminal figure defying musical categorization.”

“Wald digs deeply into sensitive personal, cultural, and artistic issues to capture the essence of both the individual and the performer while deftly examining a variety of elements that impacted Tharpe's life and work—from the challenges of being an African American woman to the strictures of the religious environment that gave rise to her gospel sound. This candid and thorough biography will certainly appeal to those familiar with this accomplished performer and will inspire others to seek out her recordings.”

“With the publication of this entertaining and enlightening biography, Tharpe—who reputedly played her electric guitar "like a man," withstood failed marriages, racial and sexual discrimination plus economic hardships—should receive the recognition she deserves.”

"A book like this is long overdue. Rosetta Tharpe was a major star and a huge influence on the musicians of her day. Listen to her recordings and you can hear all the building blocks of rock and roll."

"Rosetta was one of the most beloved and influential artists ever in gospel music... and she blazed a trail for the rest of us women guitarists with her indomitable spirit and accomplished, engaging style. She has long been deserving of wider recognition and a place of honor in the field of music history."

"Rosetta Tharpe was one of my first influences, one of the first people I heard sing. I'm glad Gayle Wald has done a book on her because people need to know."

"Rosetta Tharpe was larger than life--but sometimes, as Gayle Wald tells the story, she was larger than herself. Wald's account of Tharpe's 1951 marriage in Griffith Stadium in Washington, D. C.-she signed a contract for the wedding, then went looking for the husband-is a classic American tall tale, except that it happened, and, in these pages, you are there."