Virginia Hamilton

Virginia Hamilton is a bestselling and award-winning young adult and children's fiction author. The author was born in 1934, just on the edge of the Great Depression. She was born to Kenneth James and Eta Belle Hamilton and spent most of her childhood in Yellow Springs Ohio, as part of a large extended family.

The best place to start is the Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator series, the earliest of Virginia Hamilton's multi-book series: it opens with Tales from Africa(0)Description / Buy at AmazonThe Ugly Duckling (1843) and runs to 96 books across 1843–2023, ending with A Walk in the Woods (2023). Virginia Hamilton's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Virginia Hamilton has 171 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1843 and 2024. 133 of them belong to 6 named series — the largest being the Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator series with 96 books — and 38 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Virginia Hamilton's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator (1843–2023, 96 books), Harper Trophy (1953–2018, 29 books) and Dies Drear Chronicles (1968–1987, 2 books), plus 3 more.

This guide splits Virginia Hamilton's 171 books into 6 named series and 38 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator (96 books, 1843–2023); Harper Trophy (29 books, 1953–2018); Justice and Her Brothers (3 books, 1978–1981); Cousins (2 books, 1990–1998); Dies Drear Chronicles (2 books, 1968–1987), plus 1 further series.