New Releases by Virginia Hamilton

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.

A bittersweet story of a 12-year-old girl''s search for the truth about her own past and her missing father.

Nineteen stories focus on the magical lore and wondrous imaginings of African American women.

As a great wall of dust moves across their drought-stricken farm, a family''s distress is relieved by a young man called Drylongso, who literally blows into their lives with the storm.

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.

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

Twelve-year-old Jason describes the wonderful Christmas of 1890 that he and his family celebrate in their home in Springfield, Ohio.

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

An illustrated collection of twenty-five myths from various parts of the world explaining the creation of the world.

After his grandfather leaves his family and returns to a dangerous situation on his home island in the Caribbean, fourteen-year-old Junius decides to follow him in search of his lost heritage.

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.

This is a biography about Hugo Black.

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

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)

Three sections that reinforce information about our American heritage, improve skills of discussion, and activities to encourage contributions of all children.

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

Geeder''s summer at her uncle''s farm is made special because of her friendship with a very tall, composed woman who raises hogs and who closely resembles the magazine photograph of a Watutsi queen.

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