Bøger af Zetta Elliott

More than anything, Nina Traymore wants stability in her life. After graduating from college, Nina returns to New York City determined to immerse herself in the struggle to revive impoverished communities. Her world is shattered, however, when she is brutally raped in her home by a male acquaintance. Traumatized by the violation but fearful of life outside the city's familiar limits, Nina accepts a teaching position in Brooklyn and moves there hoping to piece her life back together. At the Sojourner Center for Families and Youth, Nina meets Isaiah Edwards, an aspiring architect whose privileged upbringing saved him from many of the traps that have ensnared his childhood friends. Although he intends to detach himself from his inner-city roots, Isaiah soon finds himself caring for Nina, though she seems bound to the crumbling community. Torn between her love for Isaiah and her duty to the children she serves, Nina must decide whether her path to healing lies abroad or in the beautiful yet brutal city that has been her home for so many years.

girl/power: While in the custody of Child Protective Services, two underage girls compare their relationships with the men accused of exploiting them. Brotherhood: Upon his release from prison, Von returns to his foster mother's home hoping to build a new life with the remnants of his family. But with the house on the brink of foreclosure, Von must confront the forces of change that have transformed the world he left behind. Deluged: A young woman conducting research on lynching in Louisiana finds herself swept up in a hurricane and dropped onto a plantation off the Mississippi River. Men of All Work: Four black male celebrities meet in "the green room" and share the trials and triumphs they have encountered trying to "make it" in the entertainment industry.

t took some time for Nikki to adjust to her parents' divorce, but now she and her little sister Natalie enjoy their new routine. Daddy comes over for dinner on Tuesday nights and the girls spend each weekend with him. But everything changes when Daddy picks them up for their weekend visit and introduces the girls to his new friend Sylvia. Nikki feels invisible when Sylvia's around and so she decides not to spend the weekend with Daddy anymore. Only after talking about her feelings with her aunt does Nikki learn that her father's love is unchanging, and that there is room in his heart to love many different people.

Stranger in the Family is a mixed-media memoir that examines the shifting terrain upon which we negotiate race, kinship, and identity. When my father died of cancer in the spring of 2004, I accepted an offer to teach in the tiny east African country of Djibouti. While abroad, I reflected upon the complicated concept of diaspora, and the alienation I sometimes felt as a foreigner brought to mind a hurtful remark my father once directed at me: "You're a stranger in this family." When my teaching assignment in Djibouti ended prematurely, I returned to Toronto and wrote a collection of essays to more closely examine my "outsider" role within my family and my native land. Stranger in the Family uses prose, photography, short stories, and poetry to trace my evolution as a black woman, a writer, a daughter, and a Canadian.

STASH: Charity, a young woman is accused of killing and castrating her abusive father. QUALITY: Two white women do laundry while discussing the challenges of living in a neighborhood that is gradually being gentrified. INNOCENTS: Three black women gather behind a courthouse in the South to reflect on their loss of innocence. SELF/PRESERVATION: A white couple, desperate to save their home from eminent domain, falsely claims their cellar was once part of the Underground Railroad. HER VOW: After miraculously recovering from a coma, Lila attacks life with a vigor that frightens and alienates her devoted husband, Jerome.

CONNOR'S BOY: Connor, a successful artist and transracial adoptee, commits suicide after being accused of abusing his beloved son. Connor's death forces the people who loved him to confront each other, the past, and the guilt that fuels their fierce struggle over his child. MOTHER LOAD: A black woman filmmaker in her mid-thirties, Liv, decides to attend her estranged mother's sixtieth birthday party. Her mother, Cleo, is a prolific, celebrated playwright. Liv arrives determined to triumphantly disclose her pregnancy, but instead she must confront the fact that Cleo is dying of uterine cancer. BEAST: DeMarcus Gaines, a famous basketball player, has been implicated in a shooting that may end his career; these charges are just the latest in a string of accusations leveled against the young star, including rape. His family, from whom he has been estranged, decides to rally around DeMarcus, but only after he gives a full and honest account of his actions.

In her third collection of poetry, Zetta Elliott explores the certainties of life in the US-tulips blooming in the spring, police officers killing unarmed Black people, ginkgo leaves turning gold in autumn, and mass shooters targeting people of color simply trying to live their lives. Using free verse, tanka, and haiku, Elliott contrasts the beauty of each season with the brutality of American injustice, revealing the contradictions of contemporary urban life. Elliott's voice reveals vulnerability and defiance as the Black feminist poet struggles to hold onto hope despite exhausting and enraging conditions.

Award-winning author Zetta Elliott has worked with kids and teens for thirty years. In this affordable, accessible guide she offers tips and activities designed to help emerging writers share their stories with the world. An important resource for educators committed to using inclusive literature in the classroom.

When her village is raided, a teenage girl finds herself on a brutal journey to the coast of Africa and across the Atlantic. Her only comfort is a small child who clings to her for protection. But once they board the slave ship, the child reveals her rebellious nature and warns that her mother--a fierce warrior--is coming to claim them all.

How do you become a writer? You write! It sounds easy but many of us struggle to express ourselves. These simple activities are designed to build your confidence as a writer. Everyone has a story to tell and there are lots of different ways to tell that story. This guide will provide several options so that you can make writing a daily practice. Your voice matters, so make your voice heard!

THE DEEP plunges readers into a dangerous, underground world policed by members of The League, a secret group of women and men who use their intuitive abilities to detect energy surges far below the earth's surface. In the deep, ancient sources of malevolent energy are bubbling up through the bedrock, and only members of The League know how to detect and seal the leaks that allow evil to enter the world. Nyla Evans knows nothing about the war being waged beneath the city. It has been almost a year since she moved from Ramstein Air Base in Germany to Brooklyn, and Nyla is still searching for a way to belong. It doesn't help that she has started to hallucinate while walking the city streets, but things get even stranger when a man named Osiris approaches her and offers to introduce Nyla to others who have similar "gifts." When Nyla refuses, her friend D is kidnapped and held in the deep until Nyla agrees to let Osiris guide her underground. There, miles beneath Brooklyn, Nyla meets Lada-the mother who abandoned her a decade ago. Furious that Nyla is being recruited by The League, Lada tries to prevent her daughter from following in her footsteps. But Nyla feels at home in the deep and her training begins at an accelerated pace when The League discovers an earthquake will soon hit Brooklyn, releasing unprecedented levels of malevolent energy into the city. THE DEEP is the companion book to SHIP OF SOULS (2012), a Booklist Top Ten Sci-Fi/Fantasy Title for Youth and finalist for the Phillis Wheatley Book Award.

AMERICAN PHOENIX, the second collection of poetry by award-winning author Zetta Elliott, extends the themes of resilience and resistance found in SAY HER NAME. Responding to the devastation of both the pandemic and police brutality, Elliott offers forty new poems that reflect upon the cycle of life, the struggle for liberation, and the artist's role in ensuring our survival.

"Jaxon and his friends are back in the magical real, Palmera, trying to convince Guardian Sis that magical creatures should exist in both world, but things might be even more complicated than Jax and his friends realize"--

The dragon's out of the bag in this urban fantasy series, where a boy from Brooklyn is on a mission to help magical creatures! This magical boxed set includes books 1 to 3 of the critically acclaimed series by award-winning author Zetta Elliott.There are two rules when it comes to the dragons: don't let them out of the bag and don't feed them anything sweet!When Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he finds out she's not his grandmother—but she is a witch! She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world where they'll be safe. Read about Jax's first three adventures in this collection!This boxed set includes:#1 Dragons in a Bag: An epic fantasy in which Jax must deliver baby dragons to a magical world where they’ll be safe.#2 The Dragon Thief: Stealing a baby dragon was easy! Hiding it is a little more complicated.#3 The Witch's Apprentice: The baby dragons were returned to the magical realm . . . but things don’t seem quite right!

For fans of Jason Reynolds and Jacqueline Woodson, this middle-grade novel-in-verse follows two boys in 1980s Brooklyn as they become friends for a season.Punk rock-loving JJ Pankowski can't seem to fit in at his new school in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as one of the only white kids. Pie Velez, a math and history geek by day and graffiti artist by night is eager to follow in his idol, Jean-Michel Basquiat's, footsteps. The boys stumble into an unlikely friendship, swapping notes on their love of music and art, which sees them through a difficult semester at school and at home. But a run-in with the cops threatens to unravel it all.From authors Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Moonwalking is a stunning exploration of class, cross-racial friendships, and two boys' search for belonging in a city as tumultuous and beautiful as their hearts.

Now that he is Ma's apprentice Jax is finding himself mixed up with all sorts of magical doings, like taking care of a phoenix egg which is going to hatch soon, trying to bring back the creatures Sis stole, finding his grandfather, and convincing Sis, the guardian, to reunite the two realms--and hopefully living to see Brooklyn again.

Stealing a baby dragon was easy! Hiding it is a little more complicated, in this sequel to reviewer favorite Dragons in a Bag.Jaxon had just one job--to return three baby dragons to the realm of magic. But when he got there, only two dragons were left in the bag. His best friend's sister, Kavita, is a dragon thief!Kavita only wanted what was best for the baby dragon. But now every time she feeds it, the dragon grows and grows! How can she possibly keep it secret? Even worse, stealing it has upset the balance between the worlds. The gates to the other realm have shut tight! Jaxon needs all the help he can get to find Kavita, outsmart a trickster named Blue, and return the baby dragon to its true home.PRAISE FOR DRAGONS IN A BAG:"Good, solid fantasy fun." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review"A promising start to a new series." --School Library Journal, starred review

The dragons may be out of the bag, but Jaxon is ready to hatch some magic of his own in this third book in the critically acclaimed series.Ever since the baby dragons were returned to the magical realm, things have been off. The New York summer has been unusually cold. A strange sleeping sickness is spreading across the city. And Jaxon’s friends Kenny and Kavita have begun to change, becoming more like the fairy and dragon they once cared for. On top of all that, Jax is hiding a secret—Vik entrusted him with a phoenix egg! Jax wants to help his friends and learn how to hatch the phoenix, but so far his lessons as a witch’s apprentice haven’t seemed very useful. Where can he find the strength—and the magic—he needs?

From award-winning author Zetta Elliott and rising star illustrator Noa Denmon comes a beautiful #OwnVoices poetic picture book about a brown child discovering and accepting their emotional landscape.

Inspired by the #SayHerName campaign launched by the African American Policy Forum, these poems pay tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter. Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls.This collection features forty-nine powerful poems, four of which are tribute poems inspired by the works of Lucille Clifton, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Phillis Wheatley.This provocative collection will move every reader to reflect, respond-and act.