Lester, Julius 1939- (Julius Bernard Lester)

views updated

Lester, Julius 1939- (Julius Bernard Lester)

PERSONAL:

Born January 27, 1939, in St. Louis, MO; son of W.D. (a minister) and Julia Lester; married Joan Steinau (a researcher), 1962 (divorced, 1970); married Alida Carolyn Fechner, March 21, 1979 (divorced, 1993); married Milan Sabatini, August 27, 1995; children: five, including (first marriage) Jody Simone, Malcolm Coltrane; (second marriage) Elena Milad (stepdaughter), David Julius; (third marriage) Lian Amaris Brennan (stepdaughter). Ethnicity: "Black." Education: Fisk University, B.A., 1960.

ADDRESSES:

Home—MA. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Professional musician and singer, 1960s; Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI, director, 1966-68; New School for Social Research, New York, NY, lecturer, 1968-70; WBAI-FM, New York, producer and host of live radio show The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1968-75; WNET-TV, New York, host of live television program Free Time; University of Massachusetts, Amherst, professor of Afro-American studies, 1971-88, professor of Near Eastern and Judaic studies, 1982-84, acting director and associate director of Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities, 1982-84; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, writer-in-residence, 1985. Lester's photographs of the 1960s civil rights movement have been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution and are a part of the permanent collection at Howard University.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Newbery Honor Book citation, 1969, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, 1970, both for To Be a Slave; Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, 1972, and National Book Award finalist, 1973, both for Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History; Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, 1973, for The Knee-High Man and Other Tales; University of Massachusetts Distinguished Teacher's Award, 1983-84, and Faculty Fellowship Award, 1985; National Professor of the Year Silver Medal Award, 1985, and Massachusetts State Professor of the Year and Gold Medal Award for National Professor of the Year, both 1986, all from Council for Advancement and Support of Education; chosen distinguished faculty lecturer, 1986-87; Parents' Choice Award, 1987, for The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, and 1990, for Further Tales of Uncle Remus: The Misadventures of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, the Doodang, and Other Creatures; Reading Magic Award, 1988, for More Tales of Uncle Remus: The Further Adventures of Brer Rabbit, His Friends, Enemies, and Others; Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book, and Caldecott Honor Book, all 1995, all for John Henry; ALA Notable Book, 1996, for Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo; Coretta Scott King Award, 2006, for Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue.

WRITINGS:

(With Pete Seeger) The Twelve-String Guitar as Played by Leadbelly, Oak (New York, NY), 1965.

Look Out Whitey! Black Power's Gon' Get Your Mama!, Dial (New York, NY), 1968.

To Be a Slave, Dial (New York, NY), 1969, thirtieth anniversary edition, illustrated by Tom Feelings, 1998.

Search for the New Land: History as Subjective Experience, Dial (New York, NY), 1969.

Revolutionary Notes, Baron (New York, NY), 1969.

Black Folktales, Grove Press (Jackson, TN), 1970, illustrated by Tom Feelings, 1992.

(Editor) The Seventh Son: The Thoughts and Writings of W.E.B. Du Bois (two volumes), Random House (New York, NY), 1971.

(Compiler, with Rae Pace Alexander) Young and Black in America, Random House (New York, NY), 1971.

Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History, Dial (New York, NY), 1972, reprinted, Puffin Books (New York, NY), 1998.

The Knee-High Man and Other Tales, Dial (New York, NY), 1972.

Two Love Stories, Dial (New York, NY), 1972.

(Editor) Stanley Couch, Ain't No Ambulances for No Nigguhs Tonight (poems), Baron (New York, NY), 1972.

Who I Am: Photopoems (poems), Dial (New York, NY), 1974.

All Is Well: An Autobiography, Morrow (New York, NY), 1976.

This Strange New Feeling, Dial (New York, NY), 1982, published as This Strange New Feeling: Three Love Stories from Black History, 2007.

Do Lord Remember Me (adult novel), Holt (Orlando, FL), 1984, Arcade (New York, NY), 1998.

The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, Dial (New York, NY), 1987.

More Tales of Uncle Remus: The Further Adventures of Brer Rabbit, His Friends, Enemies, and Others, Dial (New York, NY), 1988.

Lovesong: Becoming a Jew (autobiography), Holt (Orlando, FL), 1988.

How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? and Other Tales, illustrated by David Shannon, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1989.

Falling Pieces of the Broken Sky (essays), Arcade (New York, NY), 1990.

Further Tales of Uncle Remus: The Misadventures of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, the Doodang, and Other Creatures, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Dial (New York, NY), 1990.

The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Dial (New York, NY), 1994.

And All Our Wounds Forgiven (adult novel), Arcade (New York, NY), 1994.

John Henry, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Dial (New York, NY), 1994.

The Man Who Knew Too Much: A Moral Tale from the Baile of Zambia, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins, Clarion (New York, NY), 1994.

Othello: A Retelling, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1995.

Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Dial Books (New York, NY), 1996.

What a Truly Cool World, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1997, illustrated by Joe Cepeda, 1999.

Shining, Harcourt/Silver Whistle (San Diego, CA), 1997, illustrated by John Clapp, 2003.

Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Dial Books (New York, NY), 1998.

From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, illustrated by Rod Brown, Dial (New York, NY), 1998.

When the Beginning Began: Stories about God, the Creatures, and Us, illustrated by Emily Lisker, Harcourt/Silver Whistle (San Diego, CA), 1999.

Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Phyllis Fogelman Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Phyllis Fogelman Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt, Harcourt/Silver Whistle (San Diego, CA), 2000.

The Blues Singers: Ten Who Rocked the World, illustrated by Lisa Cohen, Jump at the Sun/Hyperion (New York, NY), 2001.

When Dad Killed Mom (novel), Harcourt/Silver Whistle (San Diego, CA), 2001.

Ackamarackus: Julius Lester's Sumptuously Silly Fantastically Funny Fables, illustrated by Emilie Chollat, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Why Heaven Is Far Away, illustrated by Joe Cepeda, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Let's Talk about Race, illustrated by Karen Barbour, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

The Autobiography of God: A Novel, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

On Writing for Children and Other People, Dial Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Old African, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Dial Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue, Jump at the Sun/Hyperion (New York, NY), 2005.

Time's Memory (novel), Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2006.

Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire, Harcourt Children's Books (Orlando, FL), 2007.

Contributor of essays and reviews to numerous magazines and newspapers, including New York Times Book Review, New York Times, Nation, Katallagete, Democracy, National Review, New Republic, Reform Judaism,Commonweal, and Village Voice. Associate editor, Sing Out, 1964-70; contributing editor, Broadside of New York, 1964-70.

ADAPTATIONS:

Many of Lester's works have been adapted for audio.

SIDELIGHTS:

Julius Lester is "foremost among … black writers who produce their work from a position of historical strength," wrote critic John A. Williams in the New York Times Book Review. Drawing on old documents and folktales, Lester fashions stories that proclaim the heritage of African Americans and "attempt to recreate the social life of the past," noted Eric Foner and Naomi Lewis in the New York Review of Books. Lester's tales are more than simple reportage. Their purpose, as the reviewers pointed out, is "not merely to impart historical information, but to teach moral and political lessons." Because he feels that the history of minority groups has been largely ignored, Lester intends to furnish his young readers with what he calls "a usable past" and with what the Foner and Lewis called "a sense of history which will help shape their lives and politics."

Lester has distinguished himself as a civil rights activist, musician, photographer, radio and talk show host, professor, poet, novelist, folklorist, and talented writer for children and young adults. His characters fall into two categories, those drawn from African-American folklore and those drawn from black or Jewish history. The former are imaginary creatures, or sometimes animals, such as those in The Knee-High Man and Other Tales, which feature the characters of Mr. Bear and Mr. Rabbit; the latter are real people, "ordinary men and women who might appear only in … a neglected manuscript at the Library of Congress," according to William Loren Katz in Washington Post Book World. Critics find that Lester uses both types of characters to reveal the black individual's struggle against slavery.

Black Folktales, Lester's first collection of folk stories, features larger-than-life heroes, including a cigar-smoking black God, shrewd animals, and cunning human beings. While some of the characters are taken from African legends and others from American slave tales, they all demonstrate that "black resistance to white oppression is as old as the confrontation between the two groups," wrote Williams. Most reviewers applauded Lester's view of African-American folklore and praised his storytelling skills, but a few objected to what they perceived to be an antiwhite tone. Zena Sutherland, writing in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, called Black Folktales "a vehicle for hostility…. There is no story that concerns white people in which they are not pictured as venal or stupid or both."

Lester also deals with white oppression in his second collection of folktales, The Knee-High Man and Other Tales. Although these six animal stories are funny, New York Times Book Review critic Ethel Richards suggested that "powerfully important lessons ride the humor. In ‘The Farmer and the Snake,’ the lesson is that kindness will not change the nature of a thing—in this case, the nature of a poisonous snake to bite." A Junior Bookshelf reviewer pointed out that this story, as well as others in the book, reflects the relationship between owner and slave. While pursuing the same theme, Lester moves into the realm of nonfiction with Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History, a documentary collection of slave narratives, and To Be a Slave, a collection of six stories based on historical fact. Both books showcase ordinary people in adverse circumstances and provide the reader with a look at what Lester calls "history from the bottom up." Black Like Me author John Howard Griffin, writing in the New York Times Book Review, commended Lester's approach, saying that the stories "help destroy the delusion that black men did not suffer as another man would in similar circumstances," and Foner and Lewis applauded the fact that "Lester does not feel it is necessary to make every black man and woman a super-hero." New York Times Book Review contributor Rosalind K. Goddard recommended Lester's writing as both lesson and entertainment, commenting: "These stories point the way for young blacks to find their roots, so important to the realization of their identities, as well as offer a stimulating and informative experience for all."

In Lovesong: Becoming a Jew, Lester presents the autobiographical story of his conversion to the Jewish faith. Beginning with his southern childhood as the son of a Methodist minister, following his years of atheism and civil rights activity, and ending with his exploration of many faiths, Lovesong concludes with Lester's embrace of Judaism in 1982. Discussing the book in a Partisan Review article, David Lehman remarked that the author relates his experiences with "conviction and passion."

With How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? and Other Tales, Lester drew from folktales of both the African and Jewish traditions to write new stories in a modern language. "Although I am of African and Jewish ancestry," Lester writes in his introduction to the collection, "I am also an American…. I have fitted the story to my mouth and tongue."

Lester's books often retell traditional folk tales, turning familiar stories on end while presenting them in a contemporary setting with morals intact and appropriate for today's youth. His "Uncle Remus" series has taken the "almost impenetrable phonetic transcription of the dialect" of Harris's telling and made it, according to Mary M. Burns of Horn Book, "more accessible through Lester's translations into Standard English. Moreover, the tales no longer suffer from the stereotyped image of Uncle Remus, which confirmed black inferiority."

In Othello: A Retelling, Lester tackles Shakespeare in a "re-imagining" that retains the questions about perceptions, race, and the nature of love and friendship central to the bard's original play, while modernizing the characters and adding psychological depth to make the story more appealing to today's youth.

Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo is a "hip and hilarious retelling" of the Little Black Sambo story, according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer. John Henry is a retelling of the popular American legend with a focus on Henry's African-American heritage. In Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story, Lester evokes the legendary stature of real cowboy Bob Lemmons and the majesty of the Wild West.

Lester's adult novel, And All Our Wounds Forgiven, is a powerful, disturbing, and controversial revisitation of the civil rights movement. Wilfred D. Samuels, writing for the African American Review, called this fiction an attempt by Lester to "demythologize" civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In Lester's Shining a young girl named Shining, growing up in a tribal society, is rejected by the women of the tribe for her refusal to speak and sing. However, after conveying a message through a "wordless song of forgiveness" that she has absorbed their culture, "Shining goes on to become designated successor to The One, a regal deity charged with guarding all souls living and dead," according to a critic for Kirkus Reviews. Shining's song shows her people "that she has been listening to them all along, hearing their joys, sorrows, and fears," continued the reviewer. Lester offers a preface at the beginning of Shining stating that through the book, he was able to, according to the Kirkus reviewer, "explore his own relationship with music and listening."

Lester created a funky and playfully outlandish view of Heaven in What a Truly Cool World. Presenting a mythical view of the afterlife in contemporary terms, Lester describes a God who walks around in slippers, has a wife named Irene, and employs a secretary named Bruce. Lester published a delightful sequel, Why Heaven Is Far Away, in which the people of Earth are being overwhelmed by snakes.

When the Beginning Began: Stories about God, the Creatures, and Us is a fusion of Lester's mixed heritage, blending the irreverence of the African-American storytelling tradition he admired and learned from his father and the imaginative inquiry of Judaism's midrashim, stories that extend and interpret bible stories. In writing for Booklist, Ilene Cooper called this "a reverent, wise, witty, and wonderfully entertaining book, handsomely produced."

From Slave Ship to Freedom Road is a vividly illustrated historical narration of the reality of slavery. Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt is a historically rich retelling of Moses—Lester-style. Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream is the story of what happens in a world where teddy bears in dreams tell children they can do anything they want.

Ackamarackus: Julius Lester's Sumptuously Silly Fantastically Funny Fables has been well received by critics, generating numerous positive reviews. Wendy Lukehart of School Library Journal described Ackamarackus as a "riotous collection" of six tales, each "featuring irrepressible animals, laugh-out-loud descriptions, alliterative language, turns of phrase that dance off the tongue, and two pithy morals brimming with wisdom and wit."

Lester continued to prove his versatility and dexterity as an writer in When Dad Killed Mom, a psychological mystery for young adults. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly described this book as "subtly and credibly done," a mystery that explores the murder and the complex feelings of the two child protagonists as they deal with the death of their mother at their father's hand.

"In the end, they are learning to make new lives for themselves and to somehow live with their losses, though their lives have been forever altered," wrote Paula Rohrlick in Kliatt. Rohrlick added that Lester "succeeds in creating some suspense," and though it's "not a cheerful read," Lester weaves "an engrossing story."

The Blues Singers: Ten Who Rocked the World brings Lester back to his musician roots with the creation of this picture book in tribute to the blues and ten great performers of this music. The book unfolds through historically rich profiles of jazz greats such as Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King told in anecdotal style through a fictional grandfather storytelling for his granddaughter.

Lester once talked about goals as a writer and his belief that his main purpose as a writer is to educate. Lending credence to this position is the fact that much of his work has been either historical sketches or historically based fiction, all with his unique twist, often offering an insider view of the African-American experience. It is in his work for children and young adults that this author best demonstrates his purpose. "What children need are not role models," Lester once told an audience of the New England Library Association, "but heroes and heroines. A hero is one who is larger than life. Because he or she is superhuman, we are inspired to expand the boundaries of what we had thought was possible. We are inspired to attempt the impossible, and in the attempt, we become more wholly human…. The task of the hero and heroine belongs to us all. That task is to live with such exuberance that what it is to be human will be expanded until the asphyxiating concepts of race and gender will be rendered meaningless, and then we will be able to see the rainbow around the shoulders of each and every one of us, the rainbow that has been there all the while."

Let's Talk about Race is an illustrated book for younger children in which Lester looks beneath the skin to the skeleton to show that we are all the same. He writes of his own blackness and asks simple questions of the reader to lead to their discovery of who they are. "The pairing of text and dazzling artwork is flawless," commented Mary Hazelton in School Library Journal.

The protagonist of The Autobiography of God: A Novel is Rebecca, a rabbi and therapist who works at a liberal arts college in Vermont. Rebecca, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, has in her home a Torah from a community of murdered Polish Jews that was rescued by her congregation and given to her. Through the Torah, dead Jews speak to her, and a black Jewish angel brings the autobiography of God, which she reads. She meets God and questions him about the need for evil. Library Journal reviewer Andrea Kempf wrote that Lester "makes Rebecca the symbol of all good people who search for spiritual meaning in a hate-filled world."

In On Writing for Children and Other People, Lester traces the path that led him to become a writer, including the elements of his life that have influenced him. He notes that his surname is the name of the family that once owned his, and the impact his conversion to Judaism has had on his writing and storytelling. School Library Journal reviewer Alison Follos noted that the "black-power stance that initially ignited his writing has evolved into an intellectually sensitive and enlightened tone."

Jaja, the protagonist in The Old African, is a slave who has not spoken since he was transported by ship from his home to the Georgia plantation where he now lives. He watched his wife be stripped naked and then jump from the ship to the ocean and recalls the attacks on his people, the Ibo, and the cruelty of the white slavers. Jaja has the power to relieve pain through thoughts and images, and in one instance he is able to stop the pain of a young boy being whipped for running away. Lester bases this story on a legend, and in this telling, Jaja leads the slaves into the ocean and back to Africa. Hazel Rochman wrote in Booklist that Lester tells this story "with a lyrical magic realism that draws on slave legend and the dream of freedom."

Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue is Lester's dramatization of an event that occurred in Savannah, Georgia, on March 3, 1859, the last day of the largest slave auction in American history. He notes the name of the plantation owner involved, but his characters are fictional. They include the more than four hundred slaves, both adults and children, who are listed along with the amounts paid for them, and the white families who buy them. Pierce Butler sold his slaves to pay his gambling debts. He was married to abolitionist Fanny Kemble, and they had two daughters. A fictional character central to the story is twelve-year-old Emma, who, in exchange for devoting herself to the care of the children, was promised that she would never be sold. Lester has her sold on the last day of the auction to a Kentucky woman, but she eventually finds freedom in Canada. Emma tells her granddaughter about the day she was sold, and also about the kind white abolitionists, including one of the daughters of her owner, for whom she named her own daughter. Lester named this character after his own grandmother, whose mother was a slave.

School Library Journal reviewer Bruce Anne Shook wrote: "Altogether this novel does a superb job of showing the inhumanity of slavery." Horn Book reviewer Robin Smith noted: "Simple stage directions will assist with classroom performance or readers' theater."

Lester draws on the history and customs of the Dogon people of Mali in writing Time's Memory, in which the mystical Ekundayo is transported to the body of a Virginia slave named Nathaniel to minister to the souls of Africans dying in the slave trade. Nat and his master's daughter fall in love, but Nat's father vows to kill all white people and involves Nat in a slave uprising. "This is a powerful novel for mature readers. It is fraught with sorrow, brutality, triumph, and joy," concluded Kathy Lehman in School Library Journal.

Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire is a postmodern coming-of-age story in which Lester interacts with the story, commenting on the lovers and their relationship and his own views of love and sexual attraction. Venus, goddess of love, wants to kill the princess Psyche, whose beauty surpasses her own; Venus sends her son, Cupid, to shoot Psyche with one of his arrows. Cupid falls in love with Psyche, but her jealous sisters conspire against him by telling Psyche tales that cause her to doubt her lover. Psyche drives him away but has a chance to prove her love if she can complete four impossible tasks chosen by Venus. Lester also profiles other mythological gods and goddesses, including Homer's immortals. In a review for Booklist, Gillian Engberg noted the themes of Cupid include a "beautifully imagined ancient world, the erotic romance, and the insights into how love happens." Horn Book contributor Anita L. Burkam concluded her review by writing: "Well-attuned to the current zeitgeist on love, Lester creates a practical navigational chart for those newly embarking on romance's stormy seas."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Almanac of Famous People, 9th edition, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2007.

Chevalier, Tracy, Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, 3rd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1989.

Children's Literature Review, Gale (Detroit, MI), Volume 2, 1976, Volume 41, 1997.

Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 9, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1995.

Krim, Seymour, You and Me, Holt, 1972.

Lester, Julius, All Is Well: An Autobiography, Morrow (New York, NY), 1976.

Lester, Julius, Lovesong: Becoming a Jew, Holt (Orlando, FL), 1988.

Page, James A., and Jae Min Roh, compilers, Selected Black American, African, and Caribbean Authors, Libraries Unlimited (Littleton, CO), 1985.

St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers, 2nd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

Schomburg Center Guide to Black Literature, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1996.

Silvey, Anita, editor, Children's Books and Their Creators, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995.

Spradling, Mary Mace, In Black and White, 3rd edition, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1980.

PERIODICALS

African American Review, spring, 1998, Nikola-Lisa, review of John Henry, p. 51; spring, 1997, Wilfred D. Samuels, review of And All Our Wounds Forgiven, p. 176.

American Jewish Life, January-February, 2007, Brad Pilcher, "Not the Face in the Mirror: An Interview with Julius Lester."

Black Issues Book Review, May, 2001, review of Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt, p. 82; September, 2001, Khafre Abif, review of The Blues Singers: Ten Who Rocked the World, p. 76.

Booklist, February 15, 1994, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 1081; June 1, 1994, review of John Henry, p. 1809; January 15, 1995, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 861; October 14, 1994, Hazel Rochman, review of The Man Who Knew Too Much: A Moral Tale from the Baile of Zambia, p. 4342; February 15, 1995, review of John Henry, p. 1069, 1094; February 15, 1995, Ilene Cooper, review of Othello: A Retelling, p. 1074; April 1, 1995, review of John Henry, p. 1411; March 15 1996, review of Othello, p. 1282; March 15, 1996, review of Othello, p. 1294; June 1, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo, p. 1722; June 1, 1996, review of The Tales ofUncle Remus, p. 1727; January 1997, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 768; April 1, 1997, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 1296; February 15 1998, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 1009; May 1, 1998, Michael Cart, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story, p. 1522; January 1, 1999, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 783; February 15, 1999, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 1068; February 15, 1999, Ilene Cooper, review of What a Truly Cool World, p. 1076; March 15, 1999, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 1297; April 15, 1999, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of When the Beginning Began: Stories about God, the Creatures, and Us, p. 1529; October 1, 1999, Ilene Cooper, review of When the Beginning Began, p. 372; April 1, 2000, Ilene Cooper, review of Pharaoh's Daughter, p. 1474; July, 2000, Hazel Rochman, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 2025; September 15, 2000, Hazel Rochman, review of Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream, p. 246; February, 2001, Grace Anne A. DeCandido, review of Ackamarackus: Julius Lester's Sumptuously Silly Fantastically Funny Fables, p. 1056; May 14, 2001, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 83; June 1, 2001, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Blues Singers, p. 1870; October 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of On Writing for Children and Other People, p. 321; November 15, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of The Autobiography of God: A Novel, p. 562; February 1, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue, p. 967, review of Let's Talk about Race, p. 976; July, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of The Old African, p. 1923; February 1, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Time's Memory, p. 60; January 1, 2007, Gillian Engberg, review of Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire, p. 82.

Book World, September 3, 1972, William Loren Katz, review of Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History, p. 9.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 1969, Zena Sutherland, review of To Be a Slave, pp. 129-130; February, 1970, Zena Sutherland, review of Black Folktales, p. 101; October, 1994, Elizabeth Bush, review of John Henry, p. 54; November, 1994, review of The Man Who Knew Too Much, p. 92; March, 1995, review of Othello, p. 241; July, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 378; February, 1998, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 212; May, 1998, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 327; February, 1999, review of What a Truly Cool World, p. 207; April, 1999, review of When the Beginning Began, p. 285; March, 2001, review of Ackamarackus, p. 268; May, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 342; May, 2001, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 342.

Children's Book Review Service, December, 1994, review of John Henry, p. 43; February, 1995, review of The Man Who Knew Too Much, p. 76; November, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 26; May, 1998, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 119.

Children's Bookwatch, February, 1995, review of The Man Who Knew Too Much, p. 5; June, 2001, review of Ackamarackus, p. 4.

Christian Century, July 20, 1988, Douglas Stone, review of Lovesong, p. 682.

Early Childhood Education Journal, spring, 1997, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 176; fall, 1997, review of John Henry, p. 48.

Ebony, January, 2005, review of Let's Talk about Race, p. 27.

Emergency Librarian, September, 1995, review of Othello, p. 58; September, 1996, review of Othello.

English Journal, January, 1996, review of Othello, p. 89.

Entertainment Weekly, January 28, 1994, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 70.

Horn Book, October, 1972, review of The Knee-High Man and Other Tales, p. 463; June, 1975, review of Who I Am: Photopoems, p. 198; August, 1982, review of This Strange New Feeling, pp. 414-415; July-August, 1987, Mary M. Burns, review of The Tales of Uncle Remus, pp. 477-478; September-October, 1988, Mary M. Burns, review of More Tales of Uncle Remus: The Further Adventures of Brer Rabbit, His Friends, Enemies, and Others, pp. 639-640; January-February, 1990, review of How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? and Other Tales, p. 79; July-August, 1990, Elizabeth S. Watson, review of Further Tales of Uncle Remus: The Misadventures of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, the Doodang, and Other Creatures, p. 478; May, 1994, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 341; November-December, 1994, Ann A. Flowers, review of John Henry, p. 739; fall, 1994, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 342; September, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 536; July-August, 1998, Lauren Adams, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 477; March, 1999, Margaret A. Bush, review of What a Truly Cool World, p. 196; July, 1999, review of When the Beginning Began, p. 476; January, 2000, review of Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales, p. 61; July, 2000, review of Pharaoh's Daughter, p. 460; May 1, 2001, Deborah Z. Porter, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 330; November-December, 2002, Joanna Rudge Long, review of Why Heaven Is Far Away, p. 735; July-August, 2005, Robin Smith, review of Day of Tears, p. 472; September-October, 2005, Joanna Rudge Long, review of The Old African, p. 593; March 1, 2006, "Coretta Scott King Author Award.," p. 235; July 1, 2006, Kristi Elle Jemtegaard, review of Day of Tears, p. 473; January-February, 2007, Anita L. Burkam, review of Cupid, p. 69.

Hungry Mind Review, summer, 1995, review of Othello, p. 41; spring, 1998, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 45.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 1994, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 70; May 1, 1994, review of And All Our Wounds Forgiven, p. 581; October 15, 1994, review of John Henry, p. 1410; October 15, 1994, review of The Man Who Knew Too Much, p. 410; March 15, 1995, review of Othello, p. 386; August 1, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 1154; November 15, 1997, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 1709; May 1, 1998, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 661; December 15, 1998, review of What a Truly Cool World, p. 1799; April 15, 1999, review of When the Beginning Began, p. 631; April 1, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 499; April 1, 2001, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 500; October 1, 2003, review of Shining, p. 1226; October 15, 2004, review of On Writing for Children and Other People, p. 1009; December 15, 2004, review of Let's Talk about Race, p. 1204; March 1, 2005, review of Day of Tears, p. 289; June 1, 2005, review of The Old African, p. 22; August 1, 2005, review of The Old African, p. 852; April 1, 2006, review of Time's Memory, p. 351.

Kliatt, May, 1998, review of Othello, p. 14; May 1, 2001, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 12; July, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 24; May, 2005, KaaVonia Hinton, review of Day of Tears, p. 15; March, 2006, Paula Rohrlick, review of Time's Memory, p. 14; March, 2007, Janis Flint-Ferguson, review of Cupid, p. 16.

Library Journal, January 1, 1975, Deborah H. Williams, review of Who I Am, p. 54; November 1, 2004, Andrea Kempf, review of The Autobiography of God, p. 76.

Library Talk, November, 1994, review of John Henry, p. 23; May, 1995, review of The Man Who Knew Too Much, p. 52; September, 1995, review of John Henry, p. 43.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, January 22, 1995, review of John Henry, p. 8; December 8, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 19; March 25, 2001, review of Ackamarackus, p. 6; July 8, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 12; December 2, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 15, and Ackamarackus, p. 16.

New Yorker, November 18, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 98.

New York Review of Books, April 20, 1972, Eric Foner and Naomi Lewis, review of Long Journey Home, pp. 41-42.

New York Times, December 7, 1998, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. E7; August 12, 2001, Peter Keepnews, review of The Blues Singers, p. 24; December 22, 2002, Sandy MacDonald, review of Why Heaven Is Far Away, p. 18.

New York Times Book Review, November 3, 1968, John Howard Griffin, review of To Be a Slave, p. 7; November 9, 1969, John A. Williams, review of Black Folktales, p. 10; October 11, 1972, Anatole Broyard, review of Two Love Stories, p. 41; July 23, 1972, Rosalind K. Goddard, review of Long Journey Home, p. 8; February 4, 1973, Ethel Richards, review of The Knee-High Man and Other Tales, p. 8; February 9, 1986, review of To Be a Slave, p. 32; January 31, 1988, Joel Oppenheimer, review of The Soul That Wanders, p. 12; January 14, 1990, review of How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? and Other Tales, p. 17; August 7, 1994, review of And All Our Wounds Forgiven, p. 14; June 19, 1994, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 28; November 13, 1994, Jack Zipes, review of John Henry, p. 30; April 23, 1995, review of Othello, p. 27; November 10, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 34; August 12, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 24.

Parents Choice, September, 1995, review of Othello, p. 14.

Partisan Review, Volume 57, number 2, 1990, David Lehman, review of Lovesong, pp. 321-325.

Publishers Weekly, October 20, 1969, review of Black Folktales, p. 60; January 19, 1970, review of To Be a Slave, p. 83; June 5, 1972, review of Long Journey Home, p. 140; August 7, 1972, review of The Knee-High Man and Other Tales, p. 50; August 28, 1972, review of Two Love Stories, p. 259; March 20, 1987, Mary M. Burns, review of The Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 80; February 12, 1988, Barry List, "PW Interviews: Julius Lester," pp. 67-68; October 27, 1989, review of How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? and Other Tales, p. 68; September 14, 1990, review of Falling Pieces ofthe Broken Sky, p. 115; May 2, 1994, review of And All Our Wounds Forgiven, p. 282; July 18, 1994, review of To Be a Slave, p. 31; September 4, 1994, review of John Henry, p. 108; November 7, 1994, review of The Man Who Knew Too Much, p. 241; March 20, 1995, review of Othello, p. 62; August 5, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 441; December 1, 1997, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 54; April 6, 1998, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 78; November 23, 1998, review of To Be a Slave, p. 69; January 4, 1999, review of What a Truly Cool World, p. 89; February 1, 1999, review of The Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 87; March 22, 1999, review of When the Beginning Began, p. 89; November 8, 1999, review of Uncle Remus, p. 70; December 13, 1999, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 85; October, 2000, review of Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream, p. 81; February 12, 2001, Sally Lodge, "Working at His Creative Peak" (interview), p. 180; March 5, 2001, review of Ackamarackus, p. 79; May 14, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 81, and When Dad Killed Mom, p. 83; June 30, 2003, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 82; October 25, 2004, review of The Autobiography of God, p. 28; January 24, 2005, review of Let's Talk about Race, p. 244; May 16, 2005, review of Day of Tears, p. 63; March 20, 2006, review of Time's Memory, p. 56; December 4, 2006, review of Cupid, p. 59.

Reading Teacher, February, 1994, review of Long Journey Home, p. 410; November, 1995, review of John Henry, p. 238; December, 1995, review of John Henry, p. 329; March, 1999, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 628; April, 1999, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 761; November, 1999, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 250; November, 1999, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 254; May, 2001, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 812; October, 2001, review of Pharaoh's Daughter, p. 186.

School Librarian, May, 1988, Irene Babsky, review of The Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 72.

School Library Journal, September, 1976, Kathryn Robinson, review of All Is Well, p. 146; April, 1982, Hazel Rochman, review of This Strange New Feeling, p. 83; April, 1987, Kay McPherson, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 99; June-July, 1988, Kay McPherson, review of More Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 92; November, 1989, Kay McPherson, review of How Many Spots Does the Leopard Have? and Other Tales, p. 99; May, 1990, Kay McPherson, review of Further Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 99; January, 1994, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 124; November, 1994, review of John Henry, p. 98; December, 1994, review of The Man Who Knew Too Much, p. 124; April, 1995, Margaret Cole, review of Othello, p. 154; August, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 126; December, 1996, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 30; February, 1998, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 119; November, 1997, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 41; June, 1998, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 113; August, 1998, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 43; April, 1999, review of What a Truly Cool World, p. 102; May, 1999, review of When the Beginning Began, p. 139; June, 2000, Barbara Scotto, review of Pharaoh's Daughter, p. 148; November, 2000, Julie Cummins, review of Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream, p. 126; February 12, 2001, "Working at His Creative Peak," p. 180; March, 2001, Wendy Lukehart, review of Ackamarackus, p. 214; May, 2001, Francisca Goldsmith, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 155; June, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 138; December, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 47; October, 2004, Alison Follos, review of On Writing for Children and Other People, p. 202; January, 2005, Mary Hazelton, review of Let's Talk about Race, p. 112; March, 2005, Bruce Anne Shook, review of Day of Tears, p. 214; September, 2005, Nina Lindsay, review of The Old African, p. 206; October, 2005, review of Day of Tears, p. 46; March 20, 2006, review of Time's Memory, p. 56; May, 2006, Kathy Lehman, review of Time's Memory, p. 131; October, 2006, review of Day of Tears, p. 46; January, 2007, Heather M. Campbell, review of Cupid, p. 130.

Social Education, April, 1995, review of John Henry, p. 216; April, 1995, review of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, p. 216; April, 1997, review of Sam and the Tigers, p. 5; May, 1999, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 8; May, 1999, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 7; October, 2002, Miriam Lang Budin, review of Why Heaven Is Far Away, p. 118.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), November 13, 1994, review of John Henry, p. 6; April 29, 2001, review of Ackamarackus, p. 8; July 1, 2001, review of When Dad Killed Mom, p. 2.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 1995, review of Othello, p. 96; April, 1998, review of This Strange New Feeling, p. 43; February, 1999, review of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, p. 412; June, 1999, Kathleen Beck, review of When the Begin-ning Began, p. 134; February, 2001, review of Pharaoh's Daughter, p. 399; August, 2001, review of The Blues Singers, p. 225.

Washington Post Book World, September 3, 1972, William Loren Katz, review of Long Journey Home, p. 9; December 4, 1994, review of John Henry, p. 21; February 11 1996, review of And All Our Wounds Forgiven, p. 12; June 7, 1998, review of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, p. 8.