Virginia Hamilton (March 12, 1936 - February 19, 2002) was a prolific children's author. She wrote over 35 books, including "M. C. Higgins, the Great", for which she won the National Book Award in 1974 and the 1975 Newbery Medal. Wikipedia
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Virginia Hamilton. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Hamilton
