Audiobooks by Virginia Hamilton

Liberation Literature: Virginia Hamilton's Speeches, Essays, and Conversations

"A monumental collection by one of America's greatest authors of children's literature. Virginia Hamilton (1936–2002) was not only one of the most magnificent writers who ever lived—winning honors such as the Newbery Medal, Newbery Honor, National Book Award, and the Coretta Scott King Award for classics like The House of Dies Drear, The People Could Fly, M. C. Higgins the Great, and Her Stories—she was one of the greatest thinkers we ever had on children's literature. Born to a family of storytellers, she wove into her books and thoughts a deep concern with memory, tradition, and generational legacy, especially as they helped define the lives of African Americans from the days of slavery onward. Hamilton described her work as ''liberation literature.'' This landmark book brings together her essays, speeches, and interviews into one thought-provoking, incisive, inspiring whole. Liberation Literature also features a foreword by Laura Pegram, founder of Kweli, and an introduction by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, the 'mother of' multicultural children's literature. It is a must-have for anyone interested in writing, the history of African American representation, children's literature, and literature overall."

Virginia Hamilton (Author), Anika Noni Rose (Narrator)

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The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

Virginia Hamilton (Author), Andrew L. Barnes (Narrator)

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The Planet of Junior Brown

"Winner of the Newbery Honor, The Planet of Junior Brown is an extraordinary story of heroism, and survival, that will appeal to young and older readers alike. The only thing Junior Brown and Buddy Clark really have is the small solar system they had built in the hidden cellar room of the school. Ostracized from his classmates Junior, a 300 pound musical and artistic prodigy, depends on his imagination for companionship. Buddy is used to depending on no one but himself. Homeless, he uses his wits to survive the streets. With the help of Mr. Poole, the school custodian, the two boys discover a world, a sheltered universe of their own in the basement room. When their hiding place is discovered, and Junior loses the only place he feels safe, his imagination takes over. It will take all of Buddy's resource to protect his friend as the realities of Junior's world come crashing in around them both. Award-winning author Virginia Hamilton is best known for her ability to create stories that teach with an element of fantasy. Heralded among the top black women writers, Hamilton brings the lessons of black urban experience to life for young adults from a variety of background and ethic origins."

Virginia Hamilton (Author), Peter Francis James (Narrator)

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M.C. Higgins, the Great

"'Two years ago bulldozers had come to make a cut at the top of Sarah's Mountain. They began uprooting trees and pushing subsoil in a huge pile to get at the coal. As the pile grew enormous, so had M.C.'s fear of it. He had nightmares in which the heap came tumbling down. Over and over again, it buried his family on the side of the mountain.'-from M.C. Higgins, the Great When M.C. Higgins climbed the 40-foot steel pole near his house, he could see over the spiky treetops and far across the rolling emerald hills. There, on Sarah's Mountain, with his face turned toward the sun and his arms spread wide, M.C. welcomed in the morning of a brand new day. How he would have liked to stay there forever! But M.C. knew-better than his family-that strip mining had reduced the outcropping upon which their cabin was built to rubble, and soon the spoilage would come raining down, burying their home forever. When two strangers come to the mountain, M.C. thinks he's found a solution to his problem, only to discover that the real answer, like the playful voices inside his head, lies in himself."

Virginia Hamilton (Author), Roscoe Lee Browne (Narrator)

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The House of Dies Drear

"One hundred years ago, Dies Drear and two runaway slaves hiding in his house, an important station on the Underground Railroad, were murdered. Legend has it that the ghost of Mr. Drear still haunts the lonely old house. But Thomas Small's father, a Civil War history professor, doesn't believe the legends and buys the house. The house is fascinating, thinks Thomas, and it is filled with hidden doorways and secret passages that he can't wait to explore. But funny things keep happening-frightening things that no one, not even Thomas' father, can explain. Is someone playing a prank? Or is the ghost of Dies Drear trying to warn the Smalls of danger? From Virginia Hamilton, the author of the Newbery Medal and National Book Award winning M.C. Higgins, the Great, comes a spellbinding mystery filled with edge-of-the-seat suspense. The House of Dies Drear wraps an important history lesson into a brilliantly imaginative story for all ages."

Virginia Hamilton (Author), Lynne Thigpen (Narrator)

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Bluish

"Friendship isn't always easy. Natalie is different from the other kids in Dreenie's fifth-grade class. She comes to school in a wheelchair. She always wears a knitted hat. And she's allowed to bring her puppy to class. The kids in the class call Natalie 'Bluish' because her skin is tinted blue from chemotherapy. Dreenie is fascinated by Bluish and a little scared of her, too. She watches Bluish and writes about her in her journal. Slowly, the two girls become good friends. But Dreenie still struggles with Bluish's illness. Bluish is weak and frail, but she also wants to be independent. How do you act around a girl like that?"

Virginia Hamilton (Author), Lisa Reneé Pitts (Narrator)

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Time Pieces: The Book of Times

"Time Pieces is a quietly beautiful coming-of-age story from a master storyteller. Eleven-year-old Valena, her family, and dog live in rural Ohio, where she and her cousin Melinda share experiences that include seeing the aurora borealis, surviving a tornado, and going to an amazing circus. Yet Valena lives in both the present and the past as she struggles with racism in her daily life and listens to and learns from her mother's tales of her family's proud history. Moving backward and forward in time, these pieces of Valena's life blend to form an extraordinary portrait of the ties that bind her family together over generations. Drawing from her own family history, Virginia Hamilton has deftly woven together moments in time, creating a seamless and poignant masterpiece."

Virginia Hamilton (Author), Lisa Reneé Pitts (Narrator)

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Audiobooks by Virginia Hamilton

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