AALBC.com mourns the lost of Fredrick Mckissack who passed on April 28th 2013 in Chesterfield, Mo. He was 73.

Patricia C. and Fredrick L. McKissack have written over one hundred books about the African-American experience. They have won countless awards and received much critical acclaim, all the while bringing enjoyment and information to young readers.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Patricia (born August 9, 1944 in Smyrna, Tennessee) worked as a teacher and then as an editor of children's books. “My career as a teacher helped me recognize what books were needed and what children enjoyed reading; my career as an editor taught me how to develop an idea. After teaching for nine years and editing for six, I felt I was ready to launch my writing career.

Fred worked first as a civil engineer for the city of St. Louis and the U.S. Army, and later owned his own general contracting company in St. Louis. Now he devotes his time to the family business, All-Writing Services.

And just how does the collaboration process work? “There is no magic formula,” Fred says. “Pat and I talk all the time.” “After talking through a project,” Pat continues, “We outline it. Then Fred does most of the digging and the research, and I write it up on the computer and run off a hard copy. Fred fact-checks and refines it, and then gives it back to me to make his changes and any more of my own.” “Then we run off another hard copy and keep doing that until it satisfies us both,” Fred adds.

This collaboration has led to the publication of several award-winning titles, including their 2004 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, Days of Jubilee. The end of slavery is one of the most important events in the history of the United States, but there was not one single day when all of the slaves were freed. The McKissacks drew from slave narratives, letters, and diaries to document the days, weeks, and years leading to freedom.

They were very excited about their collaboration, Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers, a 2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book. “We've written extensively about slavery in America, but I never realized how important free black sailors were to the Underground Railroad and to the abolitionist movement. They've helped in more ways than we can imagine.”

The research for Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters, took the McKissacks on a writer's treasure hunt through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee. “We visited and studied the interior designs of the Shirley Plantation and the Berkley Plantation, homes of former presidents; and Colonial Williamsburg and Harpers Ferry in West Virginia. We searched for Christmas stories, recipes, songs, games, toys, and dances. Many people helped us, and we are very grateful to them.

Pat has written several novels on her own. “When I'm writing fiction, I think the book through first. I walk around with a manuscript in my head a year or sometimes longer-until I have very clearly in my mind a beginning, a middle, and an end. This doesn't mean that I won't change an ending or a setting or even a central character, but I can't work until I know where I'm going.”

Fred and Pat McKissack live in Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.  —Scholastic

 

 

Never Forgotten
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Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade (October 11, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375843841
ISBN-13: 978-0375843846
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 0.5 x 11.3 inches

A 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book

"Forceful and iconic," raved Publishers Weekly in a starred review.

This gorgeous picture book by Newbery Honor winner Patricia C. McKissack and two-time Caldecott Medal-winning husband-and-wife team Leo and Diane Dillon is sure to become a treasured keepsake for African American families. Set in West Africa, here is a lyrical story-in-verse about a young black boy who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, which will remind children that their slave ancestors should never be forgotten, and that family is more important than anything else.

 

Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery In The United States
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Patricia C. McKissack, Fredrick L. McKissack, Leo Dillon (Illustrator)

ISBN: 059010764X
Format: Hardcover, 144pp
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Edition Description: 1ST
Age Range: 9

For two and a half centuries African-American slaves sang about, prayed for, and waited on their long anticipated freedom -- a day of Jubilee. But freedom didn't come for slaves at the same time. DAYS OF JUBILEE chronicles the various stages of U.S. emancipation beginning with those slaves who were freed for their service during the Revolutionary War, to those who were freed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Using slave narratives, letters, diaries, military orders, and other documents, the McKissacks invite young readers to celebrate coming freedom and the Days of Jubilee.

 

Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers
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Format: Hardcover, 160pp.
ISBN: 0590483137
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Pub. Date: September 1999
Recommend Age Range: 12 and up

Grades 6-9-
A well-researched and detailed book chronicling the contributions of African Americans to the whaling industry. Many were drawn to jobs on whaling ships throughout the 1600-1800s, for while conditions were difficult, they were preferable to slavery. The authors go to great lengths to draw out the roles of African Americans, and while many of these connections are eye-opening, they are sometimes tenuous. The first half of the book, an introduction to the whales and the business surrounding their hunting, features significant men such as Prince Boston and Paul Cuffe, but also some who were less directly involved. Frederick Douglass did briefly work as a ship's caulker but many pages are devoted to describing aspects of his life that are irrelevant to whaling. Midway, the emphasis shifts to interesting aspects of life aboard ship, explaining phrases we use today that derive from whalers, superstitions of the seas, sailing songs and shanties, the story of the famous Essex, and the role of whalers in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. While the story becomes much more engaging at this point, the role of African Americans seems to have diminished importance as race is only occasionally mentioned. Overall, though, as an important and under-explored aspect of both African-American and nautical history, this book merits a place on the shelves in larger libraries and in African-American collections. However, for a more fascinating look at whaling, and one that integrates the African-American story along with the many other participants, look to Jim Murphy's Gone A-Whaling (Clarion, 1998).
-Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

 

Best Shot in the West: The Adventures of Nat Love
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Hardcover: 129 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books (January 18, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0811857492
ISBN-13: 978-0811857499
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches

From acclaimed authors Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack Jr. comes a thrilling biography of an unforgettable man told in compelling graphic novel form. Born into slavery in 1854, Nat Love, also known as Deadwood Dick, grew up to become the most famous African-American cowboy in the Old West. A contemporary and acquaintance of Bat Masterson and Billy the Kid, Nat was widely known as an expert roper and driver, a crack shot, and a real Wild West character. Featuring lively full-color artwork by Randy DuBurke, Best Shot in the West is an exhilarating mix of high-interest historical fiction and nonstop adventure.

 

 

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