Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 61
November 28, 2013
Happy Birthday to THE DEEP!
Today’s the day! You can get your copy of THE DEEP at Rosetta Press (Create Space) or Amazon. The e-book will be available in a couple of weeks. THE DEEP is the second book in what I like to call my “freaks & geeks” trilogy. I’ve already started writing the third book, THE RETURN, and will try to publish that next summer. In the meantime, please do share THE DEEP with the young readers in your life. As an educator I write with reluctant readers in mind; like SHIP OF SOULS, THE DEEP is short and fast-paced, covering a span of three or four days. Most of my community college students don’t read, which breaks my heart. We’ve got to get kids hooked on reading at an early age! And that isn’t likely to happen if we keep feeding them liver and Brussels sprouts—-books that are good for them but not much fun. It’s Thanksgiving today and I’m thankful that I was raised by an avid reader; no one had to convince me that reading was fun. I’m looking forward to visiting schools in December and sharing THE DEEP with teens. There’s nothing more gratifying than wrapping up a reading and hearing a student say, “I’ve GOT to read that book!”
November 25, 2013
lessons learned
This afternoon I went for a walk to think about my aunt. She just turned 60 but was hospitalized over the weekend. As I raced against the setting sun—it’s COLD in NYC—all I could think about was the time she taught me how to roll socks. My aunt has Down’s Syndrome; I don’t remember when I realized she was different than my other relatives, but I do recall my mother forbidding us from ever using the “r-word.” I still cringe when I hear others using it and always check my students when it flies out of their mouths.
I posted an essay on The Huffington Post earlier today about the need for more “freaks and geeks” in YA lit. And as I walked home I thought about the ways my mother’s extended family taught me to respect and value difference. The setting sun turned the sky violet and I thought about my aunt’s infectious laughter and the way my uncles would sometimes tease her just to put a smile on her face. She loved to play the tambourine and her favorite dessert was black forest cake and her hero was Anne of Green Gables…I’m already using the past tense. It looks like I’ll be spending Thanksgiving in Toronto.
November 23, 2013
plunge into…THE DEEP!
The trailer is done! As a Scorpio, I often find it hard to collaborate on projects but it was an absolute pleasure to work with Nadirah Iman. I really respect artists who honor deadlines and otherwise act like professionals…and quality shows, wouldn’t you say? Take a look:
November 21, 2013
November 18, 2013
meet Osiris
November 16, 2013
D’s back!
D was the narrator of Ship of Souls; The Deep is told from Nyla’s point of view but D still has a chance to share his unique perspective. He’s abandoned all hope of winning Nyla away from Keem, but they still have his back…
(Illustration by Ian Moore)
November 11, 2013
November 10, 2013
“Brink of Eternity”
Even though I’ve started sending out ARCs, I’m still working on the conclusion to The Deep. When I asked a Bangladeshi friend for assistance, she suggested I include some poetry by Rabindranath Tagore. I’ve been reading some of his beautiful poetry this morning and think I’ve settled on “Brink of Eternity.”
In desperate hope I go and search for her
in all the corners of my room;
I find her not.
My house is small
and what once has gone from it can never be regained.
But infinite is thy mansion, my lord,
and seeking her I have to come to thy door.
I stand under the golden canopy of thine evening sky
and I lift my eager eyes to thy face.
I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish
—no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.
Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean,
plunge it into the deepest fullness.
Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch
in the allness of the universe.
This poem fits perfectly, though I’m wondering if it’s accurate to have two Bangladeshi-Senegalese teens reciting this in English…
I’m listening to the CBC this morning. Not sure why—I don’t feel particularly homesick for Canada. Maybe this scene from The Deep has me thinking about my own hybridity. After tomorrow I’ll have to take the poppy off my lapel and return it to its spot on my bulletin board until November rolls around again…
November 8, 2013
wading into The Deep
This week I sent out my first ARC of The Deep! No one knows YA fantasy like The Book Smugglers, and I confess I was a little nervous letting this novel out into the world. The cover isn’t done yet so I’ve got this temporary template cover that shows Neptune from the fountain in Grand Army Plaza. Nadirah Iman is working on the trailer, which is exciting since she did such a great job with the trailer for Bird. I’ve got some school visits lined up so I’ll soon have a chance to test it out on teen readers. In the meantime I’m working on the back cover blurb. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
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.
November 1, 2013
2013 Golden Baobab Prize
When I attended the Yari Yari Ntoaso conference in Accra last spring, I met Deborah Ahenkorah, founder of Golden Baobab. Deborah asked me to serve as a judge on the picture book panel and after weeks of deliberations, we are proud to announce the shortlists for all three categories. Below is the official press release:
Golden Baobab Prizes Shortlist 2013
Accra, Ghana, November 1, 2013: 180 stories were submitted to this year’s Golden Baobab Prizes. Of these, 25 made it onto the longlist and 8 to the shortlist. The 8 shortlisted stories are:
The Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Books
The Princess with a Golden Voice – Philip Begho (Nigeria)
The Little Hippo – Liza Esterhuyse (South Africa)
Grandma Mimo’s Breakfast – Carol Gachiengo (Kenya)
The Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Books
Seven – Sabina Mutangadura (Zimbabwe)
Rhino – Richard Street (South Africa)
What’s going on at 179 Jabulani Street? – Karen Hurt (South Africa)
The Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers
The Little Secret – Fego Martins Ahia (Nigeria)
Pieces of Africa – Kanengo Rebecca Diallo (Tanzania)
Chair of judges for the Picture Book Prize, Zetta Elliott, whose first picture book, Bird, won the Honor Award in Lee and Low Books’ New Voices Contest, commented on the shortlist saying, “I’m very impressed with the range and originality of the stories. This year’s shortlist suggests that there are plenty of emerging authors who take seriously the task of nourishing the imagination of African children. These stories have magic, mystery, and important lessons about the value of community. They confirm what we already know: Africa’s literary landscape is rich and diverse!”
The Golden Baobab Prizes, now in its fifth year, were set up to find the very best writers of African children’s literature. This year’s shortlist suggests that the judges; Bernardine Evaristo, Esi-Sutherland-Addy, Nonikiwe Mashologu, Zetta Elliott, Annette Hansen and Osayimwense Osa, all have varying ideas about what constitutes good fiction for children. This has ensured a very diverse 2013 shortlist.
Osayimwense Osa, founding author of the Journal of African Children’s and Youth Literature (JACYL), is a firm believer in the power of literature. He says, “It transform the world from confusion and violence to peace is immense and so it is wise to get children reading in their formative years. They must have access to literature which is in touch with social functions, individual lives, and world realities and some of the stories in the shortlist do just that.”
The shortlist comes out after over 8 weeks of the rigorous Golden Baobab Prizes evaluation process. It is evident that African writers are passionate about creating beautiful stories to ignite the imaginations of African children everywhere. The winners of the 2013 prizes will be announced on 13 November.
