52 pages • 1 hour read
Virginia HamiltonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Virginia Hamilton is the author of The People Could Fly, but she didn’t create the stories. Almost all of them are a product of people telling them to other people—they have no single author. Do what Hamilton does and pick a story and retell it. Think of how you can add your own mark on it without detracting from its meaning or lineage.
Read Hamilton’s first novel, Zeely (1967); The Planet of Junior Brown (1971); or another book she’s written and connect the folktales to her work. How do her stories spotlight teamwork, community, the supernatural, and so on?
Hamilton divided the book into four parts. Choose a story for each part and think of a thread that connects them. Use passages from the text to support your argument.
By Virginia Hamilton
African American Literature
View Collection
Allegories of Modern Life
View Collection
Appearance Versus Reality
View Collection
Black History Month Reads
View Collection
Books About Race in America
View Collection
Books on Justice & Injustice
View Collection
Books on U.S. History
View Collection
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Coretta Scott King Award
View Collection
Daughters & Sons
View Collection
Diverse Voices (Middle Grade)
View Collection
Earth Day
View Collection
Equality
View Collection
Fate
View Collection
Fear
View Collection
Good & Evil
View Collection
Grief
View Collection
Guilt
View Collection
Hate & Anger
View Collection
Loyalty & Betrayal
View Collection
Memory
View Collection
Middle Grade Nonfiction
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Mothers
View Collection
Order & Chaos
View Collection
Power
View Collection
Pride & Shame
View Collection
Revenge
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
Short Story Collections
View Collection
Teams & Gangs
View Collection
Trust & Doubt
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection