Julius Lester, son of a Methodist minister, was born January 27, 1939, in Saint Louis, Missouri. After earning a B.A. in English from Fisk University in 1960, he became a political activist involved in the civil rights struggle to desegregate the South and bring about social change. He was a professional musician and singer in the 1960s and worked in radio and television before pursuing a career in higher education. He was professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from 1971 to 1988; from 1982 to the present, he has been a professor of Near Eastern and Judaic studies and has held other positions in academia as well.

Lester has written, edited, and compiled numerous books for children, young people, and adults. His works have received numerous awards, including the Newbery Honor Book Award in 1969 for To Be a Slave.

His works have been translated...