A WHITE ROMANCE [Paperback]

Virginia Hamilton (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Scholastic Book Services (1987)
• ASIN: B0012GDZW6
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Virginia Esther Hamilton was born, as she said, "on the outer edge of the Great Depression," on March 12, 1934. The youngest of five children of Kenneth James and Etta Belle Perry Hamilton, Virginia grew up amid a large extended family in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The farmlands of southwestern Ohio had been home to her mother's family since the late 1850s, when Virginia's grandfather, Levi Perry, was brought into the state as an infant via the Underground Railroad.

Virginia graduated at the top of her high-school class and received a full scholarship to Antioch College in Yellow Springs. In 1956, she transferred to the Ohio State University in Columbus and majored in literature and creative writing. She moved to New York City in 1958, working as a museum receptionist, cost accountant, and nightclub singer, while she pursued her dream of being a published writer. She studied fiction writing at the New School for Social Research under Hiram Haydn, one of the founders of Atheneum Press.

It was also in New York that Virginia met poet Arnold Adoff. They were married in 1960. Arnold worked as a teacher, and Virginia was able to devote her full attention to writing, at least until daughter Leigh was born in 1963 and son Jaime in 1967. In 1969, Virginia and Arnold built their "dream home" in Yellow Springs, on the last remaining acres of the old Hamilton/Perry family farm, and settled into a life of serious literary work and achievement.

In her lifetime, Virginia wrote and published 41 books in multiple genres that spanned picture books and folktales, mysteries and science fiction, realistic novels and biography. Woven into her books is a deep concern with memory, tradition, and generational legacy, especially as they helped define the lives of African Americans. Virginia described her work as "Liberation Literature." She won every major award in youth literature.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars child no longer, March 21, 2001

By 

"msjamazonia" ("j-ville" jacksonvile, florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A White Romance (Point Signature) (Paperback)

Personally, I loved this book. Poor Talley falling for the bad boy. come on, girls, you know the old story. You say no, your heart says yes, you fight it it til you give in. It's love, it's life. It's crazy. It's real. It raises many new questions also in the readers mind about the skin their in, the life they lead, the lovers they have . . . . If you were Talley, you would fall to for the David with charms until you grow up and see the true thing-Victor Davis in this case-to be for you. :))

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was a well written book., November 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: White Romance A (Hardcover)

This book is a wonderfully written book. Its realsim is astonishing.I recommend this book highly.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, February 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: White Romance (Point Signature) (Library Binding)

A White Romance by Virginia Hamilton is about a black girl (Talley) who goes to an all black school called Colonel Glenn High until they start busing in white students. Talley doesn't think anything will change drastically, but she is so very wrong. Talley meets Didi, a white girl who becomes her best friend. Didi is dating Roady, a black boy, and Talley has her eyes on a white boy named David. Although Victor is in love with her, she won't have anyone but David. Didi tries to tell Talley she doesn't love David, but she decides not to listen until things take a turn for the worst.

I thought this book was very good and it teaches a lot of good lessons. The text was a little confusing at times, but other than that, I really enjoyed the book. I'd say it's a pretty easy read.