1970's The Bluest Eye Morrison's first novel grew from a short story she wrote while teaching at Howard in the 1960s. The book is set in the 1940s in the Cleveland suburbs and chronicles the narrative of Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl who grows up impoverished and is mocked by her neighborhood for being unattractive. The story weaves in and out of Pecola's point of view as she experiences various emotions related to beauty and self-image. Toni Morrison was born on January 21st, 1931 and died on June 16th, 2019. She was an American writer whose works include novels, essays, and poems, and she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Her books have been translated into many languages and are required reading in schools around the world. Morrison was born in South Carolina and raised during most of her childhood years in Georgia. She was given the name Tonia Morrison after her parents married. They decided to change their daughter's last name to match that of her husband since he came from a family of farmers. As a child, Morrison enjoyed reading and writing stories but found school to be difficult because she was always in trouble for saying bad words or acting out in class. At the age of 14, she moved with her family to Ohio where she finished high school. After graduating, Morrison went to work as a secretary for the Cleveland Public Library. There, she met other writers who influenced her decision to become a professional writer.