Virginia Hamilton: Speeches, Essays, and Conversations
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 forM. 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 AdamsCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.