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 novel by Mildred D. Taylor. Part of her Logan family series, it is a sequel to her 1975 novella '' Song of the Trees''. It won the 1977 Newbery Medal. The novel is the first book in the Logan family sag ...

'', 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 in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

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

in 2003. In 2021, she won the

Children's Literature Legacy Award The Children's Literature Legacy Award (known as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal until 2018) is a prize awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to writers or illustrat ...

Biography

Taylor was born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

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 and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

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 research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

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: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

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

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. 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 Newbery Medal 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 ''Let The Circle Be Unbroken'' is the 1981 sequel to ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' (1976), written by Mildred D. Taylor. T.J.'s punishment is approaching, Stacey runs away to find work, and the Logan children's cousin, Suzella Rankin, tries ...

'' (1981), ''

The Road to Memphis ''The Road To Memphis'' is a documentary directed by Richard Pearce. The film is part of ''The Blues'', a seven part PBS series, with Martin Scorsese as the executive producer. Synopsis ''The Road To Memphis'' follows the career of Blues mus ...

'' (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 about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

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 *''

'', 1981 *''

The Gold Cadillac ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', 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 whi ...

'', 1987 *''

Mississippi Bridge Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...

'', 1990 *''

The Road To Memphis ''The Road To Memphis'' is a documentary directed by Richard Pearce. The film is part of ''The Blues'', a seven part PBS series, with Martin Scorsese as the executive producer. Synopsis ''The Road To Memphis'' follows the career of Blues mus ...

'', 1992 *'' The Well: David's Story'', 1995 *'' The Land'', 2001 *''

All the Days Past, All the Days to Come All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

'', 2020

Awards

Body of Work *

, 2003 *

, 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'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 1975 *Jane Addams Honors Citation, 1976 ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' *NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature 2003 *Jane Addams Honor Citation, 1977 *Notable Book Citation,

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, with 49,727 members a ...

, 1976 * Newbery Medal, 1977 *Buxtehuder Bulle 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 nomination, 1982 *

Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award rec ...

, 1982 ''The Friendship'' *Coretta Scott King Award, 1988 * Boston Globe–Horn Book Award 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 organization ...

, 1988 ''The Road to Memphis'' *Special Award, Children's Book Council, 1988 *Coretta Scott King Award, 1990 ''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 Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

& Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

References

External links

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

The University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Mississi ...

The African American Literature Author Profile: Mildred D. Taylor
at

AALBC.com AALBC.com, the African American Literature Book Club, is a website dedicated to books and film by and about African Americans and people of African descent, with content also aimed at African-American bookstores. AALBC.com publishes book and fi ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Mildred American children's writers African-American women writers American women children's writers Newbery Medal winners Peace Corps volunteers 1943 births Living people 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women

Biography

Works

Awards

See also

References

External links