Product Description
A collection of twenty-five African-American folktales focuses on strong female characters and includes ""Little Girl and Bruh Rabby,"" ""Catskinella,"" and ""Annie Christmas."" By the author of The People Could Fly.
Amazon.com Review
Virginia Hamilton, who previously won a Newbery Medal and a MacArthur Foundation grant, gives us 17 pugnacious and heroic female characters in a collection of tales that demonstrates the breadth of African-American cultural tradition. The characters in Her Stories, which won the 1996 Coretta Scott King Award, are strong, competent, and sometimes bigger than life, like the "coal black and tree tall" Annie Christmas. Drawn from a variety of sources, the tales in Her Stories have been crafted to blend together smoothly while remaining true to their original tone. Text and art are laid against a buff background in a stylish, oversize format, with a heavy binding built to stand up to the repeated use that's sure to come.
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  Pretty Good, 2007-03-16
I thought Second Cousins was a decent book. I feel that Virgina Hamilton's writing is a little confusing, ending sentences that seem to make no sense whatsoever and everything seems to be happening at once. However, I thought this was a good sequel to another very good book, Cousins.
In this book, Cammy and Elodie have just passed a year of "living" after Cammy's first cousin, Patty Ann, drowned from saving Elodie during a horrific accident involving something called The Bluety. When Cammy and Elodie go to visit Cammy's father's house, they find two girls. One named Fractal and the other named GiGi, who are some of the relatives that come to visit for the family reunion. Things are very up and down for these girls. Cammy is jealous of Elodie at first, because she and GiGi seem to be having a blast and Elodie keeps trying to act just like GiGi. Cammy begins to befriend Fractal, but Cammy realises that times with Fractal can be like a rollercoaster. Sometimes Fractal seems like a teacher, patiently filling Cammy's brain with information, especially on computers. What Cammy doesn't know is there is a lot more to Fractal than she had ever thought.
Out of five stars, I rated this as a four. Although it wasn't my favorite book, because I thought it was a little confusing at times, I thought it was pretty good.
P.S. Whoever did that review before, you're not reviewing the right book, unless you are just reviewing Virginia Hamilton in general. Talking about creatures, evil and good characters, has nothing to do with this book. I'd suggest reading this book.
Not good for young girls, 2006-03-14
After reading the reviews, I rushed and bought the book. Now I'm planning to sell my copy, two days later. The book's content was inappropriate for my girls (4 and 7)
In the supernatural section, the pictures of evil spirits "boo hags" and ghosts are very frightening to young children. Also the endings of some of the stories are too sad and unresolved.
Children like to see the the "good guy" win or overcome at the end of a fairy tale. In some of these stories however, the good characters are shot and killed and nothing happens to the killer.......it's just ends like that. My oldest daughter looked sad and confused when the "cinderella" type character in the story "Mary Belle and The Mermaid" dies at the end of the story to join her dead mother.
If you have younger children (3-10) and are looking for nice books about African American girls, with a nice moral and ending try Talking Eggs by Souci, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by Steptoe or Flossie the Fox by McKissack instead.
For animal tales with morals try, The Lion Storyteller Book Of Animal Tales by Bob Hartman.
If your dead set on owning "Her Stories" by Hamilton, make sure you read it at the library first before purchasing.
A beautiful compilation of African American folklore!, 2004-04-11
Note: This review refers to the book "Her Stories" and NOT "Second Cousins," though for some reason reviews of both books appear on both product pages.
"Her Stories" is a delightful collection of nineteen stories from African American culture, retold by award-winning author Virginia Hamilton. The stories are divided into five categories: Her Animal Tales, Her Fairy Tales, Her Supernatural, Her Folkways and Legends, and Her True Tales. Each story focuses on a female, African American protagonist, and is about 3-4 pages in length. Hamilton's writing is vivid and colorful, yet remains simple enough that younger readers should have no trouble. The stories would also be great to read aloud. While Hamilton has translated the tales into contemporary language for easier understanding, she leaves a few conventions from Creole, Gullah, and other forms of speech that are best read aloud for full effect.
The book is also a great study in African American literary and oral tradition, and is suitable for adults as well as children. Each story is followed by commentary from the author, providing the history of the tale, how it reflects African American heritage, explanation of any unusual aspects of the story, and any additional points of interest. Some of the stories are based in history, and others are entirely ficitonal. Some bear likenesses to more familiar tales as well - "Catskinella" is an alternative form of the popular Cinderella story, and "Little Girl and Buh Rabby," comes from the tradition of Brer Rabbit stories.
"Her Stories" is also beautifully illustrated, bringing out the best in each tale. At the end of the book Hamilton has included some reflections on her own childhood, and how her mother influenced her decision to compile stories about strong African American women. This book is perfect for anyone, young or old and of any culture, interested in reading traditional folklore.
A wonderful collection for any girl OR boy, 2003-07-07
Here is another fantastic anthology from Virginia Hamilton, the award-winning author of "House of Dies Drear" and "The People Could Fly". This volume, also featuring the wonderful illustrations of Leo & Diane Dillon, is an eye-opener for those only familiar with European folktales. Hamilton's book is divided into five sections: (1) Her Animal Tales, (2) Her Fairy Tales, (3) Her Supernatural, (4) Her Folkways and Legends, and (5) Her True Tales. Each section contains an average of four stories, accompanied by informative and entertaining background historical data. Young readers will love the author's prose and the illustrators' beautiful paintings. Older readers and parents will gain a greater appreciation for a culture that has been too long ignored. These stories are as valid and fanciful as any of their more familiar European counterparts. The book ends with a list of valuable resources where one can find other examples of African-American folklore.
second cousins, 2002-05-29
I gave this book a five star because i thought it was a real good book it was about these two girls who meet their second cousins when they wher going to Cammy dads house cause Cammy dad said that she could come over any time so they left the siwmming pool to go over there when they got there Cammy showed her all the rooms in the house but saved the best for last when they got to that room Cammy said here's my room and opened the door and found two girls in the beds so Cammy asked what are you doing here but the two girls got smart.So Cammy asked them whats their names is they said GiGi and Fractal then one girl got up and start dancing around Cammy started to get mad so she said come on El and they left.When they got home their mom said your second cousins are coming over for dinner and Cammy knew who her mom was talking about after that they got real close to each other.Yes i would recommend this good book to people.
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