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Search - List of Books by William H. Armstrong

William H. Armstrong (September 14, 1911 near Lexington, Virginia - April 11, 1999 in Kent, Connecticut) was an American children's author and educator, best known for his 1969 Newbery Medal-winning novel, Sounder.

After growing up on a farm near Lexington he graduated cum laude from Hampden-Sydney College in 1936, then continued his higher education with graduate work at the University of Virginia. In 1945, he became a history master at Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, where he remained for fifty-two years, teaching general studies and ancient history to generations of third formers (ninth graders).

Armstrong was loved, admired, and feared by his students. A truly formidable character and head of "study hall", he suffered no fools lightly. More than once he was known to send a text book flying across the classroom with unerring accuracy to awaken one inattentive student or another.

In 1956, at the request of his school headmaster, he published his first book, a study guide called Study Is Hard Work. Armstrong followed this title with numerous other self-help books, and in 1963 he was rewarded the National School Bell Award of the National Association of School Administrators for distinguished service in the interpretation of education.

In 1969, Armstrong published his masterpiece, a short novel entitled Sounder about a 19th century African-American sharecropper family. Praised by critics, Sounder won the John Newbery Medal and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1970, and was adapted into a major motion picture in 1972 starring Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson. Despite its success, it was criticized by some African-Americans because they claimed that a white writer couldn't really understand their experience.

Among his other novels are The Sour Land which is a sequel to Sounder, though not labeled as such, The Mills of God and The MacLeod Place, the story of a multi-generational family farm displaced by the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

By the mid 1970s, enriched by earnings from Sounder, among other works, Armstrong was thoroughly ensconced in Kent School. He raised sheep for passover on a beautiful hillside piece of property provided by the school and reportedly only charged Kent one dollar per year for his academic services.

He continued to be prolific in his writing output, mainly publishing books with historical or biblical main characters, such as Hadassah: Esther the Orphan Queen (1972) and The Education of Abraham Lincoln (1974).

Armstrong was rewarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Hampden-Sydney College in 1986.

He died in 1999 at his home in Kent, Connecticut at the age of 87.

His Newbery Medal currently resides in the William Armstrong children's book section at Bortz Library at Armstrong's alma mater Hampden-Sydney College.

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This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "William H. Armstrong", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 73
Sounder CD
2006 - Sounder Cd (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9780060852702
ISBN-10: 0060852704
Genres: Children's Books, Teen & Young Adult, Children's Fiction
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1

Sounder
2002 - Sounder (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780064400206
ISBN-10: 0064400204
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 67

Study is Hard Work The Most Accessible and Lucid Text Available on Acquiring and Keeping Study Skills Through a Lifetime
Sounder
1996 - Sounder (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780590478342
ISBN-10: 0590478346
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 22

Sounder
1993 - Sounder (Other)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780439217873
ISBN-10: 0439217873
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 34

Study Tips How to Study Effectively and Get Better Grades
1990 - Study Tips How to Study Effectively and Get Better Grades [Barron's Educational Series] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780812044881
ISBN-10: 0812044886
Genres: Reference, Nonfiction
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 2

Sounder
1989 - Sounder (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780060809751
ISBN-10: 0060809752
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 51

Joanna's Miracle
1977 - Joanna's Miracle (Other)
ISBN-13: 9780805469219
ISBN-10: 0805469214
Genre: Christian Books & Bibles
  ?

Sounder
Sounder (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780590402125
ISBN-10: 0590402129
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 19