At the time of the book's publication, Kirkus Reviews said: "Hamilton is at her best here; the soaring but firmly anchored imagery, the slant and music of everyday speech, the rich and engaging characters and warm, tough, wary family relationships, the pervasive awareness of both threat and support connected with the mountain -- all mesh beautifully in theme and structure to create a sense of organic belonging."[3] Author and activist Nikki Giovanni wrote in The New York Times, "'M. C. Higgins, the Great' is not an adorable book, not a lived-happily-ever-after kind of story. It is warm, humane and hopeful and does what every book should do—creates characters with whom we can identify and for whom we care."[4] According to The Horn Book Magazine, "All of the characters have vitality and credibility as well as a unique quality that makes them unforgettable... All of the themes are handled contrapuntally to create a memorable picture of a young boy's growing awareness of himself and of his surroundings."[5] In a retrospective essay about the Newbery Medal-winning books from 1966 to 1975, children's author John Rowe Townsend wrote: "As of this writing, M.C. Higgins, The Great is too large and still too close to be seen whole; the perspective of time is needed to discern its shape and its standing; but I should not be surprised if it emerged as being the nearest thing to a masterpiece to appear on the children's lists in its decade."[6]
According to scholar Jonda C. McNair, M.C. Higgins, the Great also made history by becoming the first book for which an African-American author was granted the Newbery Medal (101).[7]
