To the Teacher

Plain City is another richly layered novel by Virginia Hamilton, the distinguished writer of books for children and adolescents. As a story, it is very accessible to today's young adolescents, who will recognize in Buhlaire-Marie Sims much that is themselves. Mature readers will find enough depth to warrant more than one reading of this fine novel. Central to this book is Buhlaire's search for her father and her roots. Like many adolescents, Buhlaire is also in search of herself, and some of the issues with which she struggles will be familiar — issues of identity, relationships with family members, relationships with peers.

In Plain City, Hamilton revisits a number of topics she has explored in other novels, among them the complications of coming to grips with an interracial heritage (Arilla Sun Down, Greenwillow, 1976) and our collective responsibility to care for people in need of shelter from the storms of life (The Planet of Junior Brown, Macmillan, 1971). This novel will offer opportunities for rich discussion of its plot, its characters, its setting, and its themes. It also offers a wonderful opportunity to pay close attention to the craft of an incomparable writer as she weaves together a relatively simple story line with a touch of myth and mystery.

Summary

Buhlaire-Marie Sims, at almost thirteen, keenly feels her "difference." She looks different, with her light coloring — a "carrot-honey face," her light eyes, and a "fuzzy-gold halo of Rasta hair." She feels herself to be an "outside child," living on the edge of Plain City in one of the small group of Water Houses set on stilts on a bank of the Montgomery Falls River. Her mother, medium-brown-skinned Bluezy Sims, is a singer and fan dancer who is frequently on the road, leaving Buhlaire in the care of Aunt Digna and the rest of her extended family. Her mother and aunts have refused to tell her about their past, so she feels she has no "back time." Further, Buhlaire has been told that her father is "missing in action" and has interpreted that to mean that he died in Vietnam. When she learns that her father is very much alive and back in Plain City, she sets out to find him.

When Buhlaire finally meets her father, Theodore "Junior" Sims, she discovers that he is beset by problems: homelessness, likely drug addiction, mental imbalance. He does, however, give her some of her "back time" in the form of photographs and mementos he has taken from her home. Her wish had been to run away with him, but after confronting her family, including her mother, with her anger at having been lied to, Buhlaire realizes that to run away would be a mistake. Nevertheless, she asserts her independence by giving her father a portion of her savings. After a sudden and symbolic late January thaw and flood, it is clear that Buhlaire is growing up. She accepts herself and recognizes and accepts both her family's imperfections and the various ways they are able to express their love for her.

Thinking About the Book

1. As is the case with many of Hamilton's novels, the story means more than it says. For one thing, the winter landscapes seem to echo Buhlaire's inner thoughts and feelings. Discuss: (1) the symbolic meanings of natural occurrences in the novel, such as the whiteout, the flood, the emergence of the frogs; (2) the possible significance of her father's temporary residence in a dark and cave-like place and Buhlaire's visit to that place followed by her emergence into sunlight; and (3) the significance of the scene in which Buhlaire and her mother harmonize on the Lennon and McCartney song "Let It Be."
2. Place is almost always important in Virginia Hamilton's novels, as it is in her life. This novel even takes the names of a place, Plain City, as its title. Discuss the significance of the title and the importance of place to the novel and to it characters.
3. Talk about the dual narration in this novel, the way Buhlaire's thoughts — identified by italics — are interspersed with the narrator's voice to form a whole. Examine the way each voice functions in the novel.
4. Discuss the many themes and topics that Hamilton explores in Plain City, such as interracial heritage, racial prejudice, identity, the quest for a father, the need for a sense of the past (Buhlaire's "back time"), homelessness and community, and the idea of coming of age.

Student Activities

1. Read other Hamilton works and compare or contrast them with Plain City. For example, in A Little Love (Philomel, 1975), Sheema goes on a quest to find her father. Arilla in Arilla Sun Down deals with an interracial heritage and issues of identity; Tree in Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush (Philomel, 1982) has a mother who is frequently absent, and knows nothing of her past until she encounters the ghost, Brother Rush.
2. Explore connections between Plain City and two or three pertinent poems. For example, Virginia Hamilton's husband, Arnold Adoff has written a collection of poems entitled All the Colors of the Race (Lothrop, 1982; Beechtree, 1992), which explore the feelings of an interracial child. Through Our Eyes, a collection selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins (Little, Brown, 1992), contains at least two relevant poems: "Lisa" by Beverly McLoughland, another poem about an interracial child, and "Father" by Myra Cohn Livingston, which portrays a child in search of her father.

About Virginia Hamilton

Virginia Hamilton, like Buhlaire-Marie Sims, lives on a parcel of her family's land in southern Ohio, a place that plays a prominent role in may of her works. Hamilton grew up in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in a large extended family of storytellers. She has written, "…in my mind, southern Ohio has been a lush and green place, country and safe. It is where I go when I need quiet and rest, and where I write most." (1992, p. 675)
Although Plain City is not autobiographical, other events and experiences of Hamilton's life may have influenced this novel. Hamilton was once, like Bluezy Sims, a nightclub singer. An African American, she is married to Jewish poet Arnold Adoff, and is the mother of two children who, like Buhlaire, are interracial. She has said, in fact, that the inspiration for Buhlaire's physical appearance comes from her family: "I have a little niece who is a carrot color. She has straw blondish hair, but her skin is brown. It's just the most beautiful combination. So I got this image of the girl and I developed a whole society of people [around her]." (Mikkelsen, 1994 P. 109)

Hamilton has been writing children's books for more than 25 years, and she is one of the most highly acclaimed writers of children's books in the world. She has published almost 30 books and has received just about every major award for which she and her work are eligible, including the John Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award (all for M.C. Higgins, the Great), the Coretta Scott King Award (for Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush), the 1992 Hans Christian Andersen Award, and the 1995 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for the body of her work.

Although most of her work is fiction, she has also written picture books and biographies. In addition to being a writer, she is a researcher of folklore and history and has published a collection of creation stories form around the world (In the Beginning, HBJ, 1988), another of African American folktales (The People Could Fly, Knopf, 1993). Her artistry has produced classic literature that today's young people should have an opportunity to know.

References
Hamilton, Virginia, "Planting Seeds." The Horn Book, November/December 1992: 674-680)
Mikkelsen, Nina, Virginia Hamilton. (New York: Twayne, 1994)