Sharon Bell Mathis writes first of all for black children, hoping, she says, that "Black children will leave my books with a feeling that I know they live." In line with that purpose Mathis published her first book, Brooklyn Story (1970), as part of the Challenger Book series, a series dedicated to the promulgation of stories "written with special sensitivity to the needs of the black or the Spanish speaking communities of the United States." Her second book, Sidewalk Story (1971), won the Council on Interracial Books for Children Prize, and her third book, Teacup Full of Roses (1972), picked up awards from the New York Times and the American Library Association. Since then Mathis has won practically every major prize offered for writers of children's literature.

Though Mathis is a children's writer, there is nothing childish or elementary about her style, content, or vision. A reviewer's comment about Mathis's 1976 Newbery...