![]() ![]() Last fall, the Library of America brought out a one-volume edition of five of Hamilton's most celebrated YA novels their tone is like nothing else I've read. She called her books, "liberation literature," because they centered on African American characters and history, but like all great imaginative writing, Hamilton's novels also liberated her readers into a wider world. Hamilton helped break open the YA genre, making it more inclusive. When Hamilton's first novel came out in 1967, I was a tad older than her target audience but, more to the point, I don't remember being given any works of fiction back then that weren't written by white people. ![]() If this were a Jeopardy clue, until a few weeks ago I wouldn't have known that the correct answer is: "Who is Virginia Hamilton?" Among other prizes, she won a National Book Award and was the first children's writer to win a MacArthur "Genius Grant" she was also the first African American author to win a Newbery Medal. She's the most award-winning YA author in American literary history, with dozens of works of fiction and non-fiction to her credit. ![]()
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