Jump at the Sun
The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
From the Newbery Honor–winning author of Genesis Begins Again comes a shimmering picture book that shines the light on Zora Neale Hurston, the extraordinary writer and storycatcher extraordinaire who changed the face of American literature.
Zora was a girl who hankered for tales like bees for honey. Now, her mama always told her that if she wanted something, “to jump at de sun”, because even though you might not land quite that high, at least you’d get off the ground. So Zora jumped from place to place, from the porch of the general store where she listened to folktales, to Howard University, to Harlem. And everywhere she jumped, she shined sunlight on the tales most people hadn’t been bothered to listen to until Zora. The tales no one had written down until Zora. Tales on a whole culture of literature overlooked…until Zora. Until Zora jumped.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Newbery Honoree Williams crafts distinctive prose evoking Black folktales from the American South in this picture book biography of Zora Neale Hurston, "a girl who was attracted to tales like mosquitos to skin." In colloquial and figurative language ("She spooned out Eatonville trickster tales to whoever'd sop 'em up"), Williams centers Hurston's love of storytelling, following her life from her childhood spent listening to tales on a general store porch and her mother's early encouragement to "jump at de sun," to being evicted at age 14 by her stepmother, enrolling in high school at age 26, writing during the Harlem Renaissance, and "collect Negro folklore" around the world. Alc ntara matches Williams's skillful narrative with fluid, atmospheric art that uses speech bubbles to add further dimension. A lively, joyfully rendered portrait of a literary legend. Back matter includes an author's note, additional reading, and sources. Ages 4 8.
