Virginia Hamilton published her young adult novel M.C. Higgins, the Great in 1974 and thereupon set a new standard for honors in that field. Hamilton became the first African-American writer in history to win the nation’s highest honor for juvenile literature, the Newberry Medal. Hamilton also became the first author to win both Newbery and a National Book Award in the same year and remained the only author to do so until 1998. The story of 13-year-old Mayo Cornelius Higgins—great-grandson of a former slave—desperately searching for a way to stay true to his Appalachian home while escaping the devastating effects of strip mining at the same time was almost never completed at all.
Hamilton was driven to complete the first few chapters when suddenly the well ran dry and she put the incomplete manuscript into the venerable drawer of unfinished stories. There the opening of M.C. Higgins’ tale remained for several years before that elusive spirit of inspiration decided finally decided to strike again. When it did, she followed through to create a rich, densely composed story that broke new ground for those who would follow in Hamilton’s footsteps writing for a young audience. While generally well received by critics who agreed with the opinion of those handing out awards in 1975, a few complained that Hamilton’s adoption of that dense style writing in the service of imagery and emotion rather than simple declarative narrative may have been too impenetrable for many of her targeted readers. The implicit critique being that Hamilton was actually writing for the critics and those handing out awards at least as much as she was writing for the middle school libraries which would be stocking the novel.
Among the thematic material covered in M.C. Higgins, the Great is the conflicts between the past and present which contribute to perceptual problems between holding onto illusion and accepting reality. The novel also examines the effect of corporate progress that requires environmental devastation, calling into question which is the greater good for those thus affected.
