NILDA by Mohr, Nicholasa - 1973

New York: Harper & Row, 1973. First edition (stated). Very good plus in very good jacket. Scarce first edition, first printing of Mohr's debut novel, the story of a young Nuyorican girl coming of age in the 1940s. With the author's own striking jacket design and intricate, detailed illustrations, NILDA showcased Mohr's skill as a graphic artist even as it marked the beginning of her move away from the visual arts and towards literature as her primary field for creative expression. Drawing on historical and autobiographical sources, Mohr vividly depicts the changing Barrio of the 1940s, the ever-present threat of racism and police violence, and her protagonist's struggle to create herself and hold on to what she loves. The winner of the 1974 Jane Addams Children's Book Award and a contender for 2019's One Book, One New York citywide summer reading program, NILDA remains a vital classic, difficult to track down in the first edition, which primarily went to libraries. 8.25'' x 5.5''. Original lavender pictorial cloth. In original price-clipped pictorial dust jacket. Jacket design and illustrations by Mohr. Green endpapers. [8], 292 pages. Light bumping to boards at extremities. Jacket with light chipping to edges and flap folds, one barely visible tape repair to head of spine; two small chips to rear panel. Gold HarperCrest label to front panel.