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Julius Lester

juliuslester Julius Lester

Julius Lester is the author of the Newbery Honor Book To Be a Slave (1969), the National Book Award finalist Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History (1972), and the Coretta Scott King Award Book Day of Tears (2006). He is also a National Book Critics Circle nominee and a recipient of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. His most recent novel, Guardian, was named a Best Book for Young Adults, a Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice, and a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books. His picture book Let’s Talk About Race was named to the New York Public Library’s “One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing.” In addition to his critically acclaimed writing career, Mr. Lester has distinguished himself as a civil rights activist, musician, photographer, radio talk-show host, and professor. For thirty-two years he taught at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He lives in western Massachusetts.