Virginia Hamilton : five novels : Zeely; The house of Dies Drear; The planet of Junior Brown; M.C. Higgins, the Great; Sweet whispers, Brother Rush; related writings / Virginia Hamilton ; Julie K. Rubini, editor.

Author
Hamilton, Virginia, 1934-2002 [Browse]
Uniform title
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
  • New York, N.Y. : The Library of America, [2021]
  • ©2021
Description
898 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 21 cm.

Details

Subject(s)
Editor
Library of Congress genre(s)
Getty AAT genre
Series
Contains
Summary note
"Rediscover America's most honored writer of children's literature in this deluxe collector's edition of her finest work: five classic novels about African American young people confronting the world and its many challenges. Playing out themes of memory, folklore, and tradition in enthralling, often wildly inventive stories, Virginia Hamilton transformed American children's literature in the 1960s and 70s. Her award-winning novels brought Black characters center stage, creating a multifaceted portrait of African American life that she called "liberation literature." This volume collects five of her best known and most beloved works. In Zeely (1967), Geeder Perry and her brother, Toeboy, go to their uncle's farm for the summer and encounter a six-and-a-half-foot-tall Watusi queen and a mysterious night traveler. In the Edgar Award-winning The House of Dies Drear (1968), Thomas Small and his family move to a forbidding former waystation on the Underground Railroad--a house whose secre ts Thomas must discover before it's too late. Junior Brown, a three-hundred-pound musical prodigy, plays a silent piano in The Planet of Junior Brown (1971), while his homeless friend Buddy Clark draws on all his New York City wit to protect Junior's disintegrating mind. In the National Book Award-winning M.C. Higgins, The Great (1974), Mayo Cornelius Higgins sits atop a forty-foot pole on the side of Sarah's Mountain and dreams of escape. Poised above his family's home is a massive spoil heap from strip-mining that could come crashing down at any moment. Can he rescue his family and save his own future? Must he choose? And in Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush (1982), fifteen-year-old Tree's life revolves around her ailing brother, Dab, until she sees cool, handsome Brother Rush, an enigmatic figure who may hold the key to unlocking her family's troubled past. This Library of America edition contains twenty beautifully restored illustrations, ten in full color for the first time; a selectio n of writings in which Hamilton discusses her work; and a newly researched chronology of Hamilton's life and career."-- Publisher's description.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references.
Contents
  • Zeely
  • The House of Dies Drear
  • The Planet of Junior Brown
  • M.C. Higgins, the Great
  • Sweet whispers, Brother Rush
  • Related writings. Portrait of the author as a working writer ; Literature, creativity, and imagination ; Nonwhite literature as American literature: a proposal for cultural democracy ; Newbery Award acceptance speech: M.C. Higgins The Great ; Correta Scott King Award acceptance speech: Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush ; Letter to Marilyn Apseloff, December 12, 1983
  • Chronology
  • Notes on the texts
  • Notes.
Other title(s)
  • Five novels
  • Zeely
  • House of Dies Drear
  • Planet of Junior Brown
  • M.C. Higgins, the Great
  • Sweet whispers, Brother Rush
ISBN
  • 9781598537017 (hardcover)
  • 1598537016 (hardcover)
LCCN
2021930819
OCLC
1272905253
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