Newbery Medal Winner
M. C. Higgins, the Great
by Virginia Hamilton
Summary
Mayo Cornelius Higgins lives on Sarah's Mountain in Appalachia, perched atop a pole that lets him survey the land while a looming spoil heap from strip mining threatens to bury his family's home. Over a pivotal stretch of days, encounters with a traveling stranger and a girl passing through push M. C. to imagine a future beyond the mountain and to confront whether to stay or leave. Hamilton blends folklore, family legacy, and environmental peril into a richly textured portrait of rural Black life.
”
Historical Context & Significance
Virginia Hamilton became the first Black author to win the Newbery Medal, and the book also took the National Book Award and the Boston Globe Horn Book Award.