Drawing on her own background as a member of a rather fortunate black family living in the apparently tolerant atmosphere of a little village, Virginia Hamilton has produced a series of award-winning books about black people whose lives go beyond the typical black-white confrontations so dear to the hearts of many black writers. Writing primarily for children, she seems largely concerned with delineating black characters that foster feelings of self-worth in her young black readers and understanding in her young white readers.

Virginia Hamilton was born and raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio, home of liberal Antioch College. She is a descendent of a black man who fled slavery, made his way north to Yellow Springs, where he settled on land that remains in the family today. She is the youngest of the five children of musician Kenneth James Hamilton and Etta Belle (Perry) Hamilton.

A good student, finishing...