Mildred D. Taylor

Mildred DeLois Taylor (born September 13, 1943, in Jackson, Mississippi) is an African-American author, known for her works exploring the struggle faced by African-American families in the Deep South. Mildred Taylor lived in Jackson as a child only a short time, then moved to Toledo, Ohio, where she spent most of her childhood. She now lives in Colorado with her daughter. She has expressed her views on the Great Depression as an economical crisis, as well as slavery.

Many of her works are based on stories of her family that she heard while growing up. 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..."^[1] Taylor has talked about how much history was in the stories; some stories took place during times of slavery and some post-slavery.

Taylor's most famous book is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. In 1977, the book won the Newbery Medal. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the middle book, chronologically, in a five-book series that also includes The Land, Song of the Trees, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, and The Road to Memphis.

Works

• Song of the Trees, 1975
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, 1976
• Let the Circle Be Unbroken, 1981
• The Gold Cadillac, 1987
• The Friendship , 1987
• Mississippi Bridge, 1990
• The Road To Memphis, 1992
• The Well: David's Story, 1995
• The Land, 2001

Awards

Song of the Trees

• First prize (African-American category), Council on Interracial Books for Children, 1973
• Outstanding Book of the Year Citation, New York Times, 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, 1976
• Newbery Medal, 1977
• Buxtehuder Bulle Award, 1985

Let the Circle Be Unbroken

• Outstanding Book of the Year Citation, New York Times, 1981
• Jane Addams Honor Citation, 1982
• American Book Award nomination, 1982
• Coretta Scott King Award, 1982

The Friendship

• Coretta Scott King Award, 1988
• Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for fiction, 1988

The Gold Cadillac

• Notable Book Citation, New York Times, 1987
• Christopher Award, 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 & Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

See also

References

External links

• Mississippi Writers Page Links: Mildred D.Taylor