From School Library Journal
Starred Review. This volume of 33 speeches, essays, and interviews was selected from the more than 150 manuscripts left by the author after her death in 2002. Spanning 30 years, the collection includes her Arbuthnot lecture, as well as acceptance speeches for major literary awards: the Newbery Medal for
M. C. Higgins the Great, the Coretta Scott King, Boston Globe-Horn Book, Hans Christian Andersen, and Wilder awards, as well as the Regina Medal. The pieces do indeed trace the development of her ideas, as she explains parallel culture, addresses the perceived difficulty of some of her fiction, and develops theories of fiction. A constant thread is the central importance of her home, Yellow Springs, OH, where her grandfather was brought to freedom by his fugitive slave mother, and of her extended family, especially her mother. Brief essays by her colleagues and her two children, a sketch and time line of Hamilton's life, a list of all her books and major awards, along with tributes from editors, are appended. This important volume belongs in every library serving adults who read children's literature.—
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A groundbreaking writer of children’s fiction, folktales, biography, and picture books, Hamilton won every major award, and much of this book is made up of her acceptance speeches, including those for the Newbery, Hans Christian Andersen, and Coretta Scott King awards, as well as her Arbuthnot and Zena Sutherland lectures. Aimed at a general audience, the book employs a tone both scholarly and informal, as Hamilton talks about her career as a woman and a black writer in America and about the form and content of her work in general and with particular titles, mentioning, for example, the meticulous historical research she conducted and her discussion of magic realism in her fiction. Many speeches include introductions by children’s literature scholars and editors, who add perspective on Hamilton’s lasting influence, while family members fill in biographical details. A must for YAs who love her books, this will also appeal to librarians, teachers, and children’s literature students. The extensive back matter includes full bibliographies. Grades 8-12. --Hazel Rochman
