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Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston
This picture-book look at the life and work of African American folklorist and writer Zora Neale Hurston does a masterful job of capturing both Hurston’s irrepressible personality and her writing. There’s a folkloric quality to elements of the descriptive writing (“Then her papa got a new wife who was stingier than a peacock!”) while excerpts from some of the folklore Hurston collected are interspersed occasionally in the illustrations of a book that follows Hurston from childhood, when she was already in love with stories and storytelling, to the education she worked so hard to obtain, to her work as a folklorist collecting stories from Black people in the south to, finally, the start of her career as a writer. Zora’s spirit soars across a narrative set against lively illustrations done with marker, gouache, and Photoshop. An author’s note, additional readings, and sources are included (unfortunately story excerpts are not specifically sourced). ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcantara
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 7-10
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Formats:
Biography, Autobiography and Memoir
Picture book
Subjects:
20th Century
African Americans
Biography
Folk and Fairy Tales
Girls and Women
Writers and Writing
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Publishers:
Atheneum, Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, Simon & Schuster
Publish Year: 2021
Pages: 40
ISBN: 9781534419131
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 813 Williams