Most Popular Books by Virginia Hamilton

From "The Banshee" to "The Flying Dutchman" this collection of mysterious tales is designed not only to entertain, but also to show that curiosity about the spirit world knows no cultural boundaries, and that human nature demands explanation and solutions for what it doesn''t understand. Full-color illustrations.

Four young people must master their powers in order to escape from a barren, dangerous land in these three novels by a Newbery Medal winner. The Justice Trilogy includes: Justice and Her Brothers: For Justice and her identical twin brothers Levi and Thomas, the summer begins like any other. But as the slow days pass, Justice begins to notice a strange energy between her brothers, beyond their normal twin connection. Thomas becomes increasingly bossy and irritable, while Levi seems weak and absentminded. And there are changes happening within Justice, as well. Soon she discovers that she possesses a mysterious, extraordinary ability—and she and her brothers must uncover the secrets behind their newfound powers. Dustland: Using their psychic abilities, four children have formed a unit: Justice, the Watcher; Dorian, the healer; Thomas, the magician; and Levi, the sufferer. Together, they mind-travel to a strange future world called Dustland. And together they can survive anything. But when tensions run high between Thomas and Justice, will Thomas leave them stranded in this desolate land? With the future of their unit uncertain, the children are threatened by an even greater danger: Mal, the evil entity that controls Dustland. The Gathering: Justice, Dorian, Thomas, and Levi have unfinished business in the future. Joining together once again and time-traveling to Dustland, they hope to guide the inhabitants out of the dangerous, barren place in the hopes of finding a safer home. But neither they nor the residents of Dustland are truly safe as long as the sinister Mal remains in power. This volume includes all three of these stories filled with fantasy and adventure, by an author who has won many awards, including the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and the Coretta Scott King Award, as well as the National Book Award for her novel M.C. Higgins, the Great.

In this West Indian version of the Rumpelstiltskin story, Lit''mahn spins thread into gold cloth for the king''s new bride.

One long time ago, Pretty Pearl god child lived high on a mountaintop in Africa with all other gods. Curious about mankind and itching to show off her powers, she came down off the mountain with her brother, know-all best god John de Conquer, and sailed on a slave ship for America. There she saw the suffering of the black people, and felt their sorrow right behind her eyes . Pretty Pearl knew now was her time to act.Brother John gave her a magical necklace, a set of rules to follow, and a warning to be careful. "Them human bein''s be awful tricky," he said."they has most winnin'' ways." Drawing upon her fabulous storehouse of black legend, myth, and folklore, Virginia Hamilton has ventured into new ways of exploring the human spirit in this extrodinary fantasy filled with mysteries, beauty, and hope.

A biography of the world famous actor and singer who lost much of his popularity when he became a champion of communism.

Geeder''s summer at her uncle''s farm is made special because of her friendship with a tall woman who raises hogs and who resembles a photograph of a Watusi queen.

Family adventures on a trip from Long Island to Buenos Aires in an ex-army DUKW - an amphibious landing craft.

Although the other animals also feel threatened by the encroachment of humans, only Rundi and Coati journey north in search of a safer place to live.

Mama Luka, Lee''s baby-sitter, tells him tales about Jahdu who runs through a magical world.

As her all-black high school becomes more racially mixed, Talley Barbour befriends a white girl who shares her passion for running and she becomes romantically involved with a handsome white classmate who is a drug dealer. Reprint.

In this retelling, using Gullah speech, of a familiar story the wily Brer Rabbit outwits Brer Fox who has set out to trap him.

The fiction writer uses language to create the illusion of reality. A work of fiction is an illusion of life in which characters attempt to transform basic reality by casting their desires and views upon it, thus creating internal conflict between elements of the real and the unreal. Characters must sort out through experiences that enable them to discover what truths finally exist. Every fiction has its own basic reality, through which the life of characters and their illusions are revealed, and from which past meaning often creeps into the setting. The task for any writer is to discover the "reality tone" of each work--the basis of truth upon which all variations on the whole language system are set. Tracking down the source of an idea and discovering the true components of a fiction are intriguing work, but they are work that is, in a sense, a sideline and after the fact, for it is not necessary to know the source of an idea in order to expand upon it. To get an idea and from it create a system of illusion that readers accept as reality is the most exciting prospect of all. (HTH)

A collection of stories, featuring sparrows, jays, buzzards, and bats, based on those African American tales originally written down by Martha Young on her father''s plantation in Alabama after the Civil War.

Eleven-year-old Valena learns about pieces of her ancestry as it is passed down from one generation to the next.

Esta coleção de escritos -- as explicações de Goenkaji sobre o ensinamento do Buda, os versos das escrituras do Buda, histórias poéticas de monges e de monjas do tempo do Buda, relatos de amigos meditadores – nasce da aceitação da verdade sobre o sofrimento. Contém exemplos inspiradores de pessoas que adquiriram força e degustaram a liberdade por meio de sua prática, e demonstra, de forma convincente, a eficácia do Caminho, a saída do sofrimento.

Though she has been raised lovingly by her grandparents, a black teenager goes in search of her father.

A biography of the slave who escaped to Boston in 1854, was arrested at the instigation of his owner, and whose trial caused a furor between abolitionists and those determined to enforce the Fugitive Slave Acts.

A black family of five moves into an enormous house once used as a hiding place for runaway slaves. Mysterious sounds and events as well as the discovery of secret passageways make the family believe they are in grave danger.

As a slag heap, the result of strip mining, creeps closer to his house in the Ohio hills, fifteen-year-old M.C. is torn between trying to get his family away and fighting for the home they love.

As a slag heap, the result of strip mining, creeps closer to his house in the Ohio hills, fifteen-year-old M. C. is torn between trying to get his family away and fighting for the home they love.

Twelve trickster tales that show the migration of African culture to America via the West Indies.

Concerned that her grandmother may die, Cammy is unprepared for the accidental death of another relative.