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Zetta Elliott

Goodreads Author

Born

in Ajax, Canada

Website

http://www.zettaelliott.com

Twitter

zettaelliott

Genre

Children's Books, Literature & Fiction, Women & Gender Studies

Influences

Octavia Butler, Jamaica Kincaid, Toni Morrison, Jean Toomer, Ezra Jack ...more

Member Since

February 2010

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I’m a Black feminist writer of poetry, plays, essays, novels, and stories for children. I was born and raised in Canada, but have lived in the US for 30 years. I earned my PhD in American Studies from NYU in 2003; I have taught at Ohio University, Louisiana State University, Mount Holyoke College, Hunter College, Bard High School Early College, and Borough of Manhattan Community College.

My poetry has been published in New Daughters of Africa, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, the Cave Canem anthology, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, Check the Rhyme: an Anthology of Female Poets and Emcees, and Coloring Book: an Eclectic Anthology of Fiction and Poetry by Multicultural Writers.

My novella, Plastique, was excerpted in T Dot G I’m a Black feminist writer of poetry, plays, essays, novels, and stories for children. I was born and raised in Canada, but have lived in the US for 30 years. I earned my PhD in American Studies from NYU in 2003; I have taught at Ohio University, Louisiana State University, Mount Holyoke College, Hunter College, Bard High School Early College, and Borough of Manhattan Community College.

My poetry has been published in New Daughters of Africa, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, the Cave Canem anthology, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, Check the Rhyme: an Anthology of Female Poets and Emcees, and Coloring Book: an Eclectic Anthology of Fiction and Poetry by Multicultural Writers.

My novella, Plastique, was excerpted in T Dot Griots: an Anthology of Toronto’s Black Storytellers, and my plays have been staged in New York, Cleveland, and Chicago. My essays have appeared in School Library Journal, Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly. My short story, “The Ghost in Her Bones,” was published in a 2020 special issue of Obsidian.

My picture book, Bird, won the Honor Award in Lee & Low Books’ New Voices Contest and the Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers. My young adult novel, A Wish After Midnight, has been called “a revelation…vivid, violent and impressive history.” Ship of Souls was published in February 2012; it was named a Booklist Top Ten Sci-fi/Fantasy Title for Youth and was a finalist for the Phillis Wheatley Book Award. My short story, “Sweet Sixteen,” was published in Cornered: 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance in July 2012. My YA novel, The Door at the Crossroads, was a finalist in the Speculative Fiction category of the 2017 Cybils Awards, and my picture book, Melena’s Jubilee, won a 2017 Skipping Stones Honor Award. I received the Children’s Literature Association’s Article Award for my 2014 essay, “The Trouble with Magic: Conjuring the Past in New York City Parks.”

I am an advocate for greater diversity and equity in publishing, and I have self-published numerous illustrated books for younger readers under my own imprint, Rosetta Press; 3 were named Best of the Year by the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature, and Benny Doesn’t Like to Be Hugged is a first-grade fiction selection for the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Dragons in a Bag, a middle grade fantasy novel, was published by Random House in 2018; the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) named it a Notable Children’s Book. Its sequel, The Dragon Thief, was named a Best Middle Grade Book of 2019 by CBC Books. The fifth book in the series, The War of the Witches, will be published in January 2024. The prequel will be self-published in 2024.

Say Her Name, a young adult poetry collection, was published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in January 2020; it was named a 2020 Book of the Year for Young People by Quill & Quire and a 2020 “Best of the Best” YA Title by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association; it was also a nominee for the YALSA 2021 Excellence in Nonfiction Award and a Top Ten title for Rise: A Feminist Book Project. Say Her Name won the 2021 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry.

A Place Inside of Me: a Poem to Heal the Heart from FSG was named an ALA Notable Book and a Notable Poetry Book by the National Council of Teachers of English; it won a 2021 Skipping Stones Honor Award and Noa Denmon won the Caldecott Honor Award for her stunning illustrations. Moonwalking (FSG 2022), a middle grade verse novel co-authored with Lyn Miller-Lachmann earned four starred reviews and was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection; it made the NYPL and Bank Street College of Education’s Best Books of 2022 lists, was one of Kirkus Reviews’ 100 Best Middle Grade Books, and made the 2023 Notable Books for a Global Society list. The National Education Association has selected Moonwalking for its 2024 Read Across America program.

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Zetta Elliott’s books

Average rating: 4.03 · 11,957 ratings · 2,330 reviews · 80 distinct works • Similar authors

	Dragons in a Bag (Dragons in a Bag #1) 3.85 avg rating — 4,238 ratings — published 2018 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Say Her Name by Zetta Elliott (Goodreads Author), Loveis Wise (Illustrator) 4.33 avg rating — 1,526 ratings — published 2020 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart by Zetta Elliott (Goodreads Author), Noa Denmon (Illustrator) 4.39 avg rating — 1,156 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dragon Thief (Dragons in a Bag #2) 3.99 avg rating — 965 ratings — published 2019 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bird by Zetta Elliott (Goodreads Author), Shadra Strickland (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 4.30 avg rating — 754 ratings — published 2008 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Wish After Midnight 3.73 avg rating — 694 ratings — published 2009 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Moonwalking by Zetta Elliott (Goodreads Author), Lyn Miller-Lachmann (Goodreads Author) 3.79 avg rating — 476 ratings — published 2021 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Witch's Apprentice (Dragons in a Bag #3) by Zetta Elliott (Goodreads Author), Cherise Harris (Illustrator) 4.12 avg rating — 329 ratings — published 2022 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mother of the Sea 4.19 avg rating — 257 ratings — published 2017 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ship of Souls 3.45 avg rating — 240 ratings — published 2012 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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1266 posts
Zetta Elliott's Blog

“way-finding”

One of the most important books I’ve ever read is Dionne Brand’s A Map to the Door of No Return. I used to teach it but it’s been a while so I’ll have to paraphrase and hope I’m remembering right. Brand examines the legacy of Atlantic slavery and the impossibility of undoing the damage, the traumatic rupture Black people experienced after being trafficked out of Africa and enslaved for centuries.

Series by Zetta Elliott

Dragons in a Bag (5 books)
by

Zetta Elliott (Goodreads Author),

Cherise Harris (Illustrator)

3.90 avg rating — 5,775 ratings

Genna & Judah (2 books)
by

Zetta Elliott (Goodreads Author)

3.74 avg rating — 720 ratings

Zetta is Currently Reading

Zetta Elliott is currently reading

We Rip the World Apart

by Charlene Carr (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 16, 2025 06:28PM

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Zetta Elliott wrote a new blog post “way-finding” One of the most important books I’ve ever read is Dionne Brand’s A Map to the Door of No Return. I used to teach it but it’s been a while so I’ll have Read more of this blog post »
19 hours, 28 min ago · like
Zetta Elliott is currently reading We Rip the World Apart by Charlene Carr (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 16, 2025 06:28PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of We Rip the World Apart by Charlene Carr. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — We Rip the World Apart by Charlene Carr <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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Quotes by Zetta Elliott (?)

“I’m not sure which matters more—where the seed comes from, or where it takes root and grows.”
― Zetta Elliott, A Wish After Midnight

tags: class, coming-of-age, roots

3 likes

“How to Resist

march
curse
fume
cry
but save some of your salt
to cure the rage so
it lasts even longer

write a poem
write a check

take a social media break
take a long bath
put lotion on your body
then put your body in the street

don’t waste your words on frauds
be strategically silent
or find the spaces of denial
and shatter the silence
with your screams

close your ears to the lies
but listen to the cries
of the weak and the wounded
keep the truth deep inside
safe from the filthy fingers
that warp everything they touch

let it throb
ache
and break
over and over again but
don’t harden your heart
harden your resolve instead

most of all

feel something
feel something
feel something”
― Zetta Elliott, Say Her Name

2 likes

“As if they could not believe a black person would dare to defend herself. It’s as if they expect us to just give up without a fight, to let them kill us, as if this is their right.”
― Zetta Elliott, A Wish After Midnight

tags: racism, self-defense

2 likes

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Read Women: Speculative Fiction	43	51	Jun 04, 2021 08:53AM

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