Midnight Son is a character who's close to my heart. The idea of a story about African American people in the west came to me through my first son. When he was about 2, he became fascinated with cowboys. This was great to me, because I'd spent many hours in my own childhood watching "shoot-em-ups"- classic western movies-with my great-grandmother. As with all his budding interests, I wanted to show my son that African American people were a part of that exciting era.

I went to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture here in New York to check this topic out. Boy, were my eyes opened! There was so much material-books, narratives, photos-about African Americans in the west. I decided to write a picture book.

Midnight Son became the name of my character. He's a boy, coming of age during the story. I wanted a strong name, one that captured the spirit of the West's myth and legend. As Midnight began to develop in my head and computer, I wanted to make his story as big and full as some of those Technicolor movies I'd seen. Although I made him up, I wanted his experiences to be based on historical fact. I became hooked on research. There was so much more I wanted to tell that I knew the book had to be longer. I'd never written for older children before, but I decided to begin a chapter book.

Midnight Son evolved into a series of three books. The first, The Adventures of Midnight Son, chronicles his arrival in the West as a runaway slave. I try to give readers a sense of what kind of person he really is; what it might have felt like to be a young slave who gets the opportunity to escape and experience free life.

He's very attached to his family, and he struggles with leaving them behind. He struggles to understand white Americans and live with them as a free person. I wanted today's kids to get a sense of an African American child's life 130 years ago.

Book two, The Longest Ride, continues to explore Midnight's growth as a free person of color. He decides to search for his family. He meets Native Americans in more than one situation, and comes to understand their struggles as a people. In book three, A City Called Heaven, coming soon, he'll try to put down roots in a town and live the kind of life he and his parents always hoped and dreamed for. During Midnight' s journey, he begins to realize that all people, no matter who they are, are connected.

Now I have four sons. Actually, I have five: Midnight Son is one of them, too.

--Denise Lewis Patrick