Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 59

open door

Yesterday I spent the day at Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School. This was my fourth annual visit to the school and as always, I was made to feel welcome the moment I stepped through the door. There was a new receptionist at the front desk but she greeted me by name before I even opened my mouth; she’d learned all about me from the librarian, Mrs. Robinson, who might be my most ardent fan! Her passion for A Wish After Midnight has spread throughout the entire seventh grade and within minutes of my arrival I was asked—yet again—when the sequel would be coming out. Even at my aunt’s funeral last November my mother’s friend offered her condolences and then asked me about Judah’s Tale. I MUST FINISH THAT BOOK! I’m hoping 12 Years a Slave will clean up at the Oscars in March and it would be good to ride that wave of interest in the slavery era, especially since I used Solomon Northrup’s kidnapping case to map Judah’s journey from north to south. I just bought my ticket to the premiere of Belle, which looks amazing. For once, people aren’t trying to avoid the subject of slavery.

It’s not easy doing five back-to-back presentations; by the third one my voice was starting to go, but the students and staff at Brooklyn Excelsior were so wonderful—attentive, engaged, excited. Mrs. Robinson plied me with snacks in between presentations and then ordered lunch for me; I spent the sixth period in the principal’s office talking about literacy and ways to engage reluctant readers. Another principal was visiting the school from upstate and she asked for a copy of Bird for her son. As I headed back to the library the receptionist slipped me a few pages of her memoir, which she hopes to publish soon. I stepped out into the hallway and a teacher rushed up to tell me how much she loved Bird, which she shared with her 5th-grade students a few years earlier. I did my last presentation and then went back into the hallway and another teacher rushed up to shake my hand and tell me how much she loved A Wish After Midnight. An author couldn’t ask for a better day! I hope to continue partnering with this school and others like it in the future.

One of my goals for 2014 is to make connections with people in the film industry. It breaks my heart to have kids ask over and over, “When is the movie coming out?” When I finish presenting on Ship of Souls—especially if I end with a reading—boys rush up and ask where they can get the book. But when I talk about The Deep or A Wish After Midnight, it’s mostly girls who crowd around me, casting themselves in the starring role of films that may never be made:

“I could play Genna!”

“I could be Nyla, right? I want to be Nyla.”

They look at me with such complete confidence—like they truly believe I can snap my fingers and make it happen. Can I? I barely know how to use Twitter but it might be time to reach out to Jada Pinkett Smith and Alicia Keys and Ava DuVernay…women who really DO make movies.

dreamworld

An unfinished novel is a tyrant. I’ve spent weeks (years, really) avoiding this novel but it MUST get done and today is the day I open the file and try to pick up where I left off. I hoped to finish Judah’s Tale over winter break, but instead I have dithered and written one essay and “Fox & Crow.” And because I need to be writing but am not, my sensitivity is growing and the littlest thing sets me dreaming. I ought to avoid Facebook if I want to get anything done, but instead it’s been feeding my imagination. Neesha posted this link to “22 Unbelievable Places” and this image of the Black Forest in Germany (photographer Andy Linden says it’s London—of course) makes me want to discard Judah’s Tale and write something medieval instead. Today For Harriet posted 5 poems by Black women; I’m ashamed to say I don’t read poetry often but I’m glad I took the time to read the first four poems. I stopped at this one by Audre Lorde, “A Woman Speaks,” and suspect I will end up using these 2 lines of verse in a book other than the one I’m determined to finish:

beware my smile
I am treacherous with old magic

Those lines make me think of Nyla and the djeli she finds in Senegal, but I have other characters who need my attention right now. The spring semester starts on Thursday; I have a full-day school visit tomorrow and five other presentations in February. My talk at Harvard is in a few weeks. But today I am giving Judah my attention because sometimes that’s all tyrants want—your undivided attention.

kith & kin

After having 3 migraines in 24 hours, I went to work today for 5 hours of advising. It wasn’t as chaotic as I thought it would be, and I was glad I had some tissue to share when a young woman sat down and burst into tears. She had hoped to earn a scholarship to Barnard but then a friend and a close relative committed suicide in the same year. She withdrew from all her courses and took a full-time job but was eventually let go. Now she’s back at school, feeling like she messed up. I don’t know a whole lot about our degree requirements (I take a training every year but the rules keep changing) but I know a little something about losing a loved one to suicide. I hope that student believed me when I told her that 1) she was not responsible for what happened to her loved ones, and 2) it wasn’t too late to resume her studies and impress the scholarship committee at Barnard. As expected, she hadn’t told them about her extenuating circumstances and so I encouraged her to write a letter or explain in person. I probably only advised 10 students today but talking to them one on one reminds me why I love to teach at the college level—and why I write for young adults. They’re on the cusp—no longer innocent yet so much of the world is still unknown to them. Life is still exciting and they believe in their own potential; they haven’t yet become jaded or defeated. I received so much support from the educators in my life, so I hope I’m doing the same for my own students. My high school English teacher read The Deep and sent me this rave review in an email:

The Deep is a real page-turner that had me on the edge of my couch, reading fast to find out what would happen next.  I really enjoyed the characters, the whole mad idea, and the well constructed, believable dialogue.  I was sad to see the last of Nyla, although I believe she is on to a new phase that you will bring to your readers. The idea of her finding her mother is very gripping, while the other characters are also quite credible and interesting. I was surprised at how effective the whole idea was, because at another level, of course, it is outrageous to imagine: it was impressive to recognize the invented separate world that the reader could accept along with carefully devised characters from the real world. These parents behave like normal parents and the long-lost mother shows very interestingly the different sides of her torn character. The edge of ruthlessness in Nyla’s personality is both shocking and encouraging: the cause needs her courage.

Then yesterday, in between migraines, I got this lovely message from my aunt who had just finished the novel:

I didn’t want it to end…and turned the last page muttering…’NO”…you can’t do this to me!”

Zetta “The Deep’ is so good…The ultimate fight of good over evil is so skillfully portrayed and your character development took me intimately into the lives of D, Keem, Nyla, Roan and Lada…

So you know what I am going to ask you…the sequel? When? Hoping you will reach under your bed and pull out the finished manuscript and say…Oh…well…I was going to wait but Faith needs it now so I will publish it sooner :))

I am so incredibly proud of you…of your ability and the way you are developing strong black women in literature as role models…

Love you…

Lately I’ve been having a conversation with a friend about gratitude. To me, gratitude isn’t something you give (or owe) to another person; it’s something you cultivate within yourself so that you see abundance in every area of your life…

blurry

Yesterday I learned that my niece finished reading The Deep. She turns ten in a couple of weeks and I’ve got P.S. Be Eleven wrapped and ready to send. M’s a voracious reader and my primary job as a long-distance aunty is to keep her supplied with multicultural books. At first I was horrified by the idea of M reading a novel I intended for teenagers. The Deep opens with a sexual assault that takes place during a school dance, and there is also brief mention of sexting and suicide—I recommend it for kids 13 and up. But then M’s mom told me that she’d already had to have a conversation with my niece about sexual assault; once when her classmate’s older sister was gang raped and subsequently committed suicide, and again when my niece wondered why her mother didn’t like the song “Blurred Lines.” A nine-year-old shouldn’t have to worry about rape, but I’m glad she’s got parents who choose to inform her rather than keep her ignorant. It’s an issue I choose to engage in my young adult novels because it is the sad reality for far too many teens, and fiction can sometimes make tough topics easier to discuss. At the very least, writing about rape ensures other assault survivors that they aren’t alone and since I write historical fiction, I can also demonstrate that Black women have been resisting and recovering from rape for centuries.

I understand M plans to write me a letter about The Deep—I’m anxious to hear her impressions! I know she’s wondering when the next book will be done. Today I met Lyn Miller-Lachmann for breakfast and we talked about serializing young adult lit. We both have so many projects that are almost ready to go—but what’s the best way to connect with readers? Should an author give readers everything she’s got, or ration books in order to build anticipation? Would selling a novel chapter by chapter appeal to reluctant readers who are intimidated by lengthy books? I think of Netflix and their new model that allows viewers to watch all available episodes of a particular show. I do binge sometimes and if season 4 of Games of Thrones were available to view all at once, I’d probably get sucked in. Downton Abbey is so slow and boring that I don’t mind waiting a week for each new episode, but is it the same when you’re reading a book? I’m nearly done with Hild by Nicola Griffith (amazing!) and feel like I’ll be lost once I reach page 536 and finally have to leave that world behind. But it’s not the kind of book I’d want to read in pre-determined installments—I needed to be immersed even if it took me a week to reach the end. But that’s me—I wanted to hold the physical book in my hands and I needed to read long chunks of it in silence. Teens today are constantly multi-tasking and battling endless distractions—does that mean they’re wired for shorter stories and bite-size books? My niece reads up to five books at a time (and finishes them all)! I think I’m too much of a traditionalist to give up printed books but it’s important to consider all the options. If there’s a book for every reader, should there be a format for every reader, too?

building book stamina

Yesterday I went to work for the first time since winter break began. I had lunch with several colleagues and, as usual, we shared stories about our students—the best and the worst. One student I’ll always remember told me at the end of the semester that he had never finished reading a book until he took my class on Black Women in the Americas. He had to be close to 25 years old and he was very bright (despite admitting he only took the class to meet women). He later decided to write a novel himself, which was the ultimate reward for me. As an educator, it’s heartbreaking to stand at the front of a classroom and see no hands raised when I ask, “How many people finished a novel in the past week? The past month?” The vast majority of my students (who are mostly Black and Latino, working class) don’t read recreationally. Reading isn’t fun and they don’t understand that reading truly is fundamental. Many of my students don’t know what Standard English looks like because they don’t hear it in their homes or communities and they‘ve never seen don’t regularly see it printed on a page; as a result, they write based on oral/aural knowledge—”would of been” instead of “would have been.” I taught a writing intensive class for the first time last fall and it was incredibly demoralizing. At one point I actually told my students that I felt like I’d missed the bus—trying to develop a love of literature in 20-year-olds is extremely challenging. If you don’t hook kids when they’re young, it’s hard to develop new habits later on. I took the advice of my senior colleagues and removed Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man from my syllabus. They still had to read Richard Wright’s Native Son and out of 20 students, only 3 made it to the end. But at the end of the semester, many said the novel was their favorite assigned reading. So there’s hope—IF you can hook them on a narrative that’s exciting, fast-paced, and not too long.

One reason I didn’t send The Deep out to bloggers for review is because I’m trying to reach reluctant readers. And if you’re blogging about books or following a book blog, you’re probably already an avid reader and less likely to be satisfied with a short page-turner. If I gave The Deep to my community college students, I doubt anyone would complain that it’s too short. I go into dozens of Brooklyn middle schools every year, and students most often say, “When is the next book coming out?” In one special education class, a boy proudly raised his hand and said, “I read your book—twice!” And for me, that’s a sign that I’m building stamina in kids who have seen all the Harry Potter films but would never even try to read the novels. When I send a manuscript to an editor and she starts talking about Divergent, I know we’re not on the same page. I’m not trying to write hi-lo fiction (books for teens reading far below grade level), but I’m glad there are people out there making sure those teens DO have something to read. I think it was my librarian friend Vanessa Irvin Morris who introduced me to this quote: “For every reader, a book.” It’s one of the 5 Laws of Library Science developed by S. Ranganathan. I don’t mean to suggest that all Black teens are reluctant readers—I certainly wasn’t, and the two or three college students who tell me they love to read have been in love with books since they were children. And just because I write for reluctant readers doesn’t mean my books are flawless—the goal isn’t “any ol’ book for every reader” but really good books for readers of all kinds. So I appreciate The Book Smugglers‘ review of The Deep—no one knows more about YA fantasy fiction and they were impressed by Ship of Souls:

For such a short novel, The Deep, an Urban Fantasy with contemporary YA trappings packs a lot: from the introduction to a whole new, hidden underground world and a secret group that keeps evil at bay to the idea that what said group might be doing is not entirely that black and white; from expanding on the previous book by continuing Dmitri’s story but also focusing on Nyla’s own including her past, her present, her parent’s own struggles, her love life, her developing magical powers, etc. Although it is true that a person’s life is a complex mixture of different threads and the book speaks to this, I am not sure that everything combines seamlessly here.

The book greatest strengths are Zetta Elliott’s (always) beautiful writing and the careful, powerful characterisation of Nyla and of those who surround her. Zetta Elliott is at her best when writing about characters’ emotional make-up and Nyla’s relationship with her family, her stepmother, her boyfriend (and his family) are beautifully portrayed.

I’m sorry it fell short for them in the end, but self-published books often don’t get reviewed at all so I truly appreciate that these expert bloggers gave my book a serious critique. I’m gearing up for the next round of school visits here in Brooklyn and look forward to hearing what teens think about The Deep. As an educator, I’m supposed to teach students how to analyze the texts they consume but as an author, I have to say I’m happy just to get swarmed by eager young readers at the end of my presentation. Seeing kids of color clamoring for books makes my heart soar…

2013 African American Fiction for Teens

It’s that time of year again! Edi Campbell kindly gave me her list of 2013 books by PoC (people of color) and I pulled out the fiction books by Black authors (middle grade and young adult). As always, if you see that we’ve missed a title, please let us know.

I have not added titles from Saddleback Educational Publishing, a press devoted to hi-lo fiction for teens. You can find Saddelback’s Black authors on our 2011 and 2012 lists.

Two of the titles are reprints. Walter Dean Myers, outgoing National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, had a good year with 3 titles; Amar’e Stoudemire and Kelli London had 2 titles each, as did Ni-Ni Simone and Amir Abrams. How many of the remaining authors made their debut in 2013? Less than ten, by my count.

According to a recent article in New York Magazine, there were over 10,000 young adult novels available in 2012. A YALSA source suggests 3,000 YA novels are published annually in the US.

        

MG=middle grade (8-12) YA=young adult (12-18)

Bereft by Craig Laurance Gidney (Tiny Satchell Press; January) YA
STAT #3: Slam Dunk by Amar’e Stoudemire (Scholastic Paperbacks; January) MG
Sweet 16 to Life: A Langdon Prep Novel by Kimberly Reid (KTeen; January) YA
Reality Check: Charly’s Epic Fiasco by Kelli London (KTeen; February) YA
Drifting by Lisa R. Nelson (Tiny Satchel Press; February) YA
Flowers in the Sky by Lynn Joseph (Harper Teen; March) YA
Orleans by Sherri L. Smith (Putnam Juvenile; March) YA
The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Arthur A. Levine Books; March) YA
Twelve Days of New York by Tonya Bolden and Gilbert Ford (Abrams; March) MG
Hollywood High: Get Ready for War by Ni-Ni Simone and Amir Abrams (Kensington; March) YA
Panic by Sharon Draper (Atheneum; March) YA
Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl by Carolita Blythe (Delacorte; April) YA
The Laura Line by Crystal Allen (Balzer + Bray; April) MG
Darius and Twig by Walter Dean Myers (Harper; April) YA
P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams Garcia (Amistad; May) MG
Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; May) MG
Get Over It by Nikki Carter (Dafina Press; May) YA
The Girl of His Dreams by Amir Abrams (K-Teen/Dafina; June) YA
Paparazzi Princesses by Bria Williams, Reginae Carter, and Karyn Folan (Cash Money Content; June) YA
Dork Diaries 6: Tales from a Not-So-Happy-Heartbreaker by Rachel Renee Russell (Aladdin; June) MG
Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn (St. Martin Press; June) YA
Star Power (Charly’s Epic Fiasco) by Kelli London (Kensington; July) YA
Way Too Much Drama by Earl Sewell (Kimani Tru; July) YA
Sunday You Learn How to Box by Bil Wright (Scribner; August—reprint) YA
The Cruisers: Oh, Snap! by Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic; August) MG
STAT #4: Schooled by Amar’e Stoudemire (Scholastic Paperbacks; August) MG
Goal Line by Tiki & Ronde Barber, with Paul Mantell (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books; August—reprint) MG
Zero Fade by Chris Terry (Curbside Splendor; September) YA
You Don’t Know Me Like That by Reshonda Tate Billingsly (K-Teen/Dafina; September) YA
Streetball Crew Book One: Sasquatch in the Paint by Kareem Abdul Jabar (Disney-Hyperion; September) MG
Invasion by Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic; October) YA
The Case of the Time Capsule Bandit by Octavia Spencer (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; October) MG
True Story by Ni-Ni Simone (KTeen/Dafina; November) YA
Jump Shot by Tiki & Ronde Barber, with Paul Mantell (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books; November) MG
He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander (Amistad; November) YA
Cy in Chains by David L. Dudley (Clarion Books; December) YA

do comics empower Black girls?

When I look at the work of most comic book artists, I generally think to myself, “That’s not my peer group.” I followed the comic strips in the Saturday paper when I was a child, and I definitely bought my fair share of Archie comic books. My brother sometimes shared his Spiderman comics with me but for the most part, I read traditional books. And now, as an adult, that’s what I write. When collaborating with the illustrator who made the sketches for The Deep‘s trailer, I made it clear that I didn’t want Nyla to be hypersexualized as women so often are in comics. I wanted her to be beautiful and powerful without wearing skimpy clothes over bulging biceps and/or breasts.

I’m a fan of the X-Men films and I was far more anxious to see Thor than Best Man Holiday, but the feminist in me knows that women generally don’t fare well in the imagination of most men. But I do have black feminist friends who are comics scholars and the POC Zine Project gives me hope that women are creating their own images to counter the many distortions. Kids constantly ask me when my novels will be made into films and I know just what it would mean to them to see empowered Black girls on the silver screen—girls who overcame obstacles AND survived till the end of the movie! But I also realize that my idea of an empowered Black girl probably looks a lot different than most teenagers’ idea. Ask them to name a powerful Black woman and they say, “Beyonce.” Not Michelle Obama or Shonda Rhimes or Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

When I created the character of Nyla I definitely wanted her to be a blend of confidence, intelligence, and beauty. I felt she was a natural leader, attractive but also intimidating, deeply loyal but also deeply insecure. Lyn Miller-Lachmann just posted an amazing review of The Deep and it’s clear she totally “got” Nyla:

Elliott creates a strong female character with many talents and many difficult choices. Her contradictory feelings toward the mother who abandoned her ring true and leave readers with much to ponder, especially if those readers are missing important people in their lives as well. Nyla’s toughness masks a vulnerability that the author makes clear early on; in the preface that takes place eight months earlier at an Air Force base in Germany, Nyla is sexually assaulted by an older boy at her school whom she believed she could control. This assault is what motivates Nyla’s father and stepmother to bring her back to the States, and to dangers they never could have imagined.

Lyn is an unabashed comics fan, and her passion for superheroes informs her fantastic middle grade novel Rogue. If you don’t yet know about The Pirate Tree Social Justice and Children’s Literature blog, you should definitely check them out. Here’s part of their mission statement:

…we are interested in books and writers that question and rebel against the status quo, argue for peace and reconciliation, take the side of the marginalized and powerless, and use creative solutions to overcome obstacles.

Can comic books offer all of the above AND represent women realistically? I suspect not, which is why I’ll stick with novels…

(Illustration by Cynthia “Thea” Rodgers)

into the wild

I am ready to throttle the dog next door. Actually, I’d love to ask his owner why she thinks it’s ok to have a pet when she has absolutely no interest in meeting his needs. I’ve been working on “Fox & Crow” for a week now and I’m amazed it has taken me this long to write 1300 words! I admit I’m easily distracted, plus my mother had a small stroke last weekend and that threw me off course for a while. Research also forces me to adjust the narrative—Fox can’t wake at dawn and go hunting for breakfast when foxes are nocturnal creatures who largely eat at night. And if Fox has a jar on his head, how much would he really be able to see? Would living near humans enable him to identify musical instruments by sight or sound? I like animal stories and I’m not opposed to anthropomorphism, but I don’t want to strip these creatures of their wild nature.

Right now I’ve got the radio on and our new mayor is holding a press conference on the snowstorm. I thought a snow day would be the perfect occasion to stay in and write, but having a barking dog next door doesn’t help with concentration. I cornered one pet owner in the elevator before Xmas and explained that I worked at home and would appreciate it if she kept her dog away from the front door when she left for work. She replied that she worked at home, which literally knocked me back a step. How could ANYONE work with a little, yippy dog barking all day long?! She insisted that she always made sure her darling didn’t bark and bother others. “But she was barking all morning,” I countered. “Oh,” she replied. “I had to step out for a while.” Now that pet owner has dealt with her dog–I’ve hardly heard a peep out of it since that meeting in the elevator. But the woman next door to me works about 60 hours a week and her dog can’t stand being left alone. He whines when she leaves and then it escalates into full-blown barking. I’m more of a cat person, but I got to like dogs when I lived with my sister for six months in 1999. She had a big, black Lab crossed with a pit bull who used to terrorize passersby and would tear up her apartment every time she dared to leave him alone (which was every day). Then I moved in to write my first novel and Raf was instantly pacified. He didn’t want me to play with him all day or pet him constantly—he just didn’t want to be alone. PBS had a special on recently about the difference between cat lovers and dog lovers and I had to agree with the cat people: dog owners are selfish. They love to come home from work and have a dog jump up and lick their face, but they really don’t want to pay the price for that kind of loyalty. Hiring someone to walk your dog for twenty minutes doesn’t undo the loneliness some dogs experience when they’re left alone for 8-10 hours each day. Whereas cat owners understand that cats have a life of their own—they may greet you when you come home, but they’re just as likely to keep on doing what they were doing (sleeping). Cats aren’t needy. They aren’t loud. They aren’t desperate for attention. Cats are perfect for an apartment—most dogs are not. Cat owners don’t exploit their pet’s loyalty (in part because cats don’t practice loyalty). Writing this story has made me think about what the fox says in The Little Prince: “You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed.” I would love to hold a giant bunny or cuddle with a fox, but you know what? That’s not what they’re for. That’s not what they want. And that matters. Ok, end of rant. Back to the story.

Looking Back at 2013

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Crow & Fox

I’m still thinking about the privileges I enjoy as a writer and after spending the weekend in Baltimore visiting illustrator Shadra Strickland, I realize how much I benefit from having so many committed artists as friends. We spent a lot of time catching up—and we ate at some fabulous restaurants—but we also had moments where Shadra went upstairs to her studio to draw and I settled on the couch to write my picture book story “Fox & Crow: A Christmas Tale.” It’s not a retelling of the classic fable but there is a trickster element and a moral, of course. It’s fascinating to see how other artists work—Shadra’s home is full of art, but her studio makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. I got to see an advance copy of her beautiful new book, Please, Louise, and paintings from her next book were pinned to a string like clothes on a line. As soon as I mentioned the fox in my story, Shadra pulled out books and cards and online illustrations that showed other artists’ interpretation of foxes in winter. My story was inspired by “Christmas in Yellowstone,” which I watch every year on PBS, and a video someone posted on Facebook of a crow who turned a plastic lid into a rooftop sled. I started writing the story before I left Brooklyn, but just a few hours with Shadra opened up a whole range of new possibilities. I’m hoping to finish the story before the new year begins; I met most of my goals for 2013 but didn’t manage to sell another picture book story. I already have 20 unpublished manuscripts so this will be #21. On Sunday afternoon we pulled out our journals and wrote new objectives for 2014; I definitely plan to self-publish another novel in the coming year, but I don’t think I could do a picture book on my own. I could try to collaborate with a student artist or I could try sending my manuscript to editors outside the U.S. I suspect 2014 is going to force me to step outside my comfort zone…

The first time I visited Shadra’s studio in Brooklyn I headed home and passed out on the subway just as I reached my stop. I think my brain was overstimulated! And we did have to be careful we didn’t talk too much this weekend. Creatives need a lot of quiet time! As I always say, writing is 70% dreaming…