Mildred DeLois Taylor (born September 13, 1943) is a Newbery Award-winning American young adult novelist. She is best known for her novel ''

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry '' Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' is a 1977 Newbery Medal awarded novel by Mildred D. Taylor. It is a part of her Logan family series, a sequel to her 1975 novella '' Song of the Trees''. The novel is the first book in the Logan family saga, w ...

'', part of her Logan family series. Taylor is known for exploring powerful themes of family and racism faced by African Americans in the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

, in works that are accessible to young readers. She was awarded the 1977

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

for ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' and the inaugural

NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature The NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature is an international children's literary award founded in 2003 and given every odd-number year by ''World Literature Today''. The prize is an offshoot of the Neustadt International Prize for Literat ...

in 2003. In 2020 she received the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

, and in 2021, she won the

Children's Literature Legacy Award The Children's Literature Legacy Award (formerly the ''Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal'' or ''Wilder Award'') is a prize awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to writers ...

Biography

Taylor was born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, in 1943, and is the great-granddaughter of a former slave who was the son of an African-Indian woman and a white landowner. As a young child she moved to

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, where she attended Toledo's public schools and eventually graduated from the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

in 1965. She then spent two years with the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, and, after returning to the United States, earned a master's degree in journalism at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

where she was instrumental in creating a Black Studies Program as a member of the Black Student Alliance. She now lives in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Taylor's books chronicle the lives of several generations of the Logan family, from times of slavery to the Jim Crow era. Her most recognizable work is ''

'' (1976), which won the

in 1977 and has been integrated into the language arts curriculum in many classrooms across the United States. "Roll of Thunder" is flanked by several books that include titles such as '' Song of the Trees'' (1975), '' Let the Circle Be Unbroken'' (1981), '' The Road to Memphis'' (1992), and '' The Land'' (2001). Her collective contributions to children's literature resulted in her being awarded the inaugural

in 2003. Taylor's works are based on

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

told to her by her father, uncles, and aunt. Taylor has said that without her family, and especially without her father, her books "would not have been". She has stated that these anecdotes became very clear in her mind, and in fact, once she realized that adults talked about the past, "I began to visualize all the family who had once known the land, and I felt as if I knew them, too ..."

Works

*'' Song of the Trees'', 1975 *''

'', 1976 *'' Let the Circle Be Unbroken'', 1981 *'' The Gold Cadillac'', 1987 *''

The Friendship ''The Friendship'' is a children's novella by Mildred Taylor. Published in 1987, it is set in 1933 in Mississippi and deals with the unfair treatment of African Americans. Summary Mr. Tom Bee, an elderly black man, twice saved the life of a w ...

'', 1987 *'' Mississippi Bridge'', 1990 *'' The Road to Memphis'', 1992 *'' The Well: David's Story'', 1995 *'' The Land'', 2001 *'' All the Days Past, All the Days to Come'', 2020

Awards

Body of Work *

, 2003 *Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award, 2020 *

, 2021 ''Song of the Trees'' *First prize (African-American category), Council on Interracial Books for Children, 1973 *Outstanding Book of the Year Citation, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 1975 *Jane Addams Honors Citation, 1976 * Coretta Scott King Honor Award, 1976 ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' *Notable Book Citation,

, 1976 *Jane Addams Honor Citation, 1977 *Coretta Scott King Honor Award, 1977 *

, 1977 *

Buxtehude Bull The Buxtehude Bull (German: Buxtehuder Bulle) is an award for youth literature, established in 1971 by Winfried Ziemann, a local book merchant from Buxtehude, a Hanseatic City located in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The town council took over ...

Award, 1985 ''Let the Circle Be Unbroken'' *Outstanding Book of the Year Citation, ''The New York Times'', 1981 *Jane Addams Honor Citation, 1982 *

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

nomination, 1982 *Coretta Scott King Award, 1982 ''The Friendship'' *Coretta Scott King Award, 1988 *

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The ''Boston Globe''–''Horn'' Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonficti ...

for fiction, 1988 ''The Gold Cadillac'' *Notable Book Citation, ''The New York Times'', 1987 *

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

, 1988 ''The Road to Memphis'' *Special Award, Children's Book Council, 1988 *Coretta Scott King Award, 1991 ''Mississippi Bridge'' *Christopher Award, 1990 ''The Well: David's Story'' *Jane Addams Book Award, Jane Addams Peace Council, 1996 ''The Land'' *Coretta Scott King Award, 2002 *

ALA Best Book for Young Adults The American Library Association's (ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommended list of books presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Ad ...

, 2002 *

Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction is an annual American children's book award that recognizes historical fiction. It was established in 1982 by Scott O'Dell, author of ''Island of the Blue Dolphins'' and 25 other children's books, in ho ...

, 2002

References

External links

* The Mississippi Writers Page
"Mildred D.Taylor"
at

The University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and is the state's largest b ...

The African American Literature Author Profile: Mildred D. Taylor
at AALBC.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Mildred American children's writers African-American women writers American women children's writers Newbery Medal winners 1943 births Living people 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American women Children's Literature Legacy Award winners Novelists from Mississippi African-American children's writers University of Toledo alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni Coretta Scott King Award winners

Biography

Works

Awards

See also

References

External links