After studying English, history, and journalism in college and graduate school as well as holding several positions as an educator, the first book in the Logan series, Song of the Trees, was published in 1975. It received a little buzz but was not published. Some of the stories he had actually lived himself.” Taylor penned her first novel when she was 19. He “told her many stories that he had been told when he was a boy.

Wilbert Lee Taylor, her father, was one of the primary storytellers of the family. Although she did not grow up in the South, family trips to Mississippi stirred a desire in her to chronicle her rich family history. Her father moved the family to Toledo Ohio when Taylor was three months-old. Taylor was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1943. Numerous awards, honors, and high praise have been bestowed upon the books in the Logan Family series. In 2016 Dial Books released a 40th anniversary special edition with cover art by Kadir Nelson and an introduction by Jacqueline Woodson. Taylor’s book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, a part of the Logan Family series won the award in 1977. The Newbery is awarded to “the most distinguished American children’s book published the previous year.” The first book by a Black author to receive the award was M.C. Taylor became only the second Black author to receive the prestigious John Newbery Medal. Her collective contributions to children's literature resulted in her being awarded the inaugural NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2003.īio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.History was made in 1977 when Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the middle book, chronologically, in the Logans series that also includes titles such as The Land, Song of the Trees, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, and The Road to Memphis. Taylor's most famous book is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. ' Taylor has talked about how much history was in the stories some stories took place during times of slavery and some post-slavery.

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. Many of her works are based on stories of her family that she heard while growing up. She has expressed her views on the Great Depression as an economical crisis, as well as slavery. She now lives in Colorado with her daughter. Taylor was born in Jackson, Mississippi but lived there only a short amount of time, then moved to Toledo, Ohio, where she spent most of her childhood. Mildred DeLois Taylor (born September 13, 1943) is an African-American writer known for her works exploring the struggle faced by African-American families in the Deep South.

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