They say the pity of youth is that it's wasted on the young. Since we're well into our thirties and because we love the stories of Virginia Hamilton we must agree. Before motherhood descended upon us we could curl up in a corner with "Zeely" or "The Planet of Junior Brown" and cry all alone remembering … wishing … hoping about a childhood of our dreams. Now we gather child, dog and gerbils (after we have extracted their promise not to chew the book) ar...

[M. C. Higgins, the Great is] a composite of rich interwoven themes, strengthened by vivid characterization and a deep sense of place. (p. 194) Much of the story revolves around M. C.'s emotional tension as his love for the mountain conflicts with his belief that the family must leave its home. Further, his friendship with Ben Killburn is thwarted by his family's superstitious dread of the Killburns, whom they consider "witchy." In the end M. C. saves his home by building a wall ...

The richly detailed story of the Appalachian Hills [M. C. Higgins the Great,] tells of a few important days in the life of thirteen-year-old M. C. Higgins, self-styled "The Great."… Much of the story is devoted to the effect that two strangers had on M. C. One was a dude from the city, who was going through the hills making tape recordings of singers and their old songs. (M. C. was certain that when the dude heard his mother's magnificent voice, he would get her started on the wa...

American award-winning children's literature has sometimes been on the over-earnest side; it seems more difficult to win prizes for writing a funny, even irreverent book. What can one expect, therefore, from Virginia Hamilton's M. C. Higgins, The Great, which has scooped this year's pool by landing the National Book Award, the Newbery Medal and the Boston Globe award? Is it three times as good, or merely three times more earnest than previous winners? Perhaps a bit of both; Virginia Ham...

The author of award-winning M. C. Higgins the Great … and other imaginative works has ventured again into new ways of exploring the human spirit—literally, in [the case of Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush]; one of the three principal characters is a ghost…. The story is minutely and vividly developed, with no jarring of continuity between scenes of present time and past. Each character takes shape both from current behavior and influential factors of his or her background. This interplay of...