When a young Zora Neale Hurston stands in the schoolyard to spin a tale about the "gator man" she saw, the listener, too, is riveted. To create an audio production about a girl whose tales are so tall that to call her a fibber is a compliment and a town so filled with intriguing characters that one must eavesdrop at every opportunity, one needs a narrator ready to delight in every word. The character Ivory is said to have had honey poured straight into his voice. Narrator Channie Waites’s voice could be described with equal reverence as she brings the all-black community of Eatonville, Florida, to life. K.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2011 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Move over Nancy Drew. There's a new girl sleuth in town…This mystery not only thrills and chills but vibrantly evokes a small Southern town in the early 20th century.
—The Washington Post

Debut authors Bond and Simon do their subject proud, spinning a tale about the childhood of writer Zora Neale Hurston, who "didn't have any trouble telling a fib or stretching a story for fun." So says her friend Carrie Brown, who narrates this novel as an adult looking back on a tumultuous and momentous autumn. Set at the beginning of the 20th century in Hurston's childhood home of Eatonville, Fla., one of the nation's first all-black towns, the story follows Carrie and Zora as events--including the gruesome deaths of two men--fuel Zora's imagination and love of storytelling; the truth behind one of the deaths proves more difficult for Carrie to accept than Zora's frightening yet mesmerizing stories of the supernatural man-gator she claims is responsible. The maturity, wisdom, and admiration in Carrie's narration may distance some readers from her as a 10-year-old ("The bad things that happen to you in life don't define misery--what you do with them does"). Nevertheless, the authors adeptly evoke a racially fraught era and formative events--whether they're true or true enough--in Hurston's youth. Ages 10–up. (Oct.)

The brilliance of this novel is its rendering of African-American child life during the Jim Crow era as a time of wonder and imagination, while also attending to its harsh realities. Absolutely outstanding.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Like Hurston, who celebrated her rich roots but was also a wanderer at heart, this novel of lies and revelations will reach a wide audience, and some strong readers will want to follow up with Hurston’s writings.
—Booklist (starred review)

Gr 4–7—A spirit of gentleness pervades this story, along with an air of mystery and natural magic. The novel is set in Eatonville, FL, and imagines Zora Neale Hurston's life from about fourth to sixth grade. The narrator, Carrie Brown, is probably based on the Carrie Roberts in Hurston's autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road (1942). Other major players such as Zora's family, Joe Clarke, and the kindly white man who bestowed Zora with the nickname Sniglets, are also drawn from Dust Tracks, and the history of Eatonville. With its combination of adventure, history, and introspection, Zora and Me will work best in classrooms—perhaps where an enticing read-aloud is needed but the audience is somewhat captive—for the times when the narrator sounds more like an adult than an 11-year-old, commenting about how "stories guard the pictures of the selves," memory can be one-sided, and "good things alone don't make up a person who's real." The authors have taken great care with historical accuracy, and the book is endorsed by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust. Zora's reputation for tall tales and her urge to see the world are directly tied to the real Hurston's natural storytelling ability and desire to travel. A brief biography, time line, and annotated bibliography are included.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

When a young Zora Neale Hurston stands in the schoolyard to spin a tale about the "gator man" she saw, the listener, too, is riveted. To create an audio production about a girl whose tales are so tall that to call her a fibber is a compliment and a town so filled with intriguing characters that one must eavesdrop at every opportunity, one needs a narrator ready to delight in every word. The character Ivory is said to have had honey poured straight into his voice. Narrator Channie Waites’s voice could be described with equal reverence as she brings the all-black community of Eatonville, Florida, to life. K.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2011 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

The childhood of African-American literary giant Zora Neale Hurston is brought to life with this fictionalized account. At the turn of the 20th century, in the all-black town of Eatonville, Fla., Young Zora is considered both a brilliant storyteller and the town liar. Her best friend, Carrie, the "me" of the title, is drawn into Zora's family and story world after her father leaves for work and never returns home. Zora's stories about a shape-shifting alligator take on a life of their own when two murders occur around Eatonville. The suspect is a reclusive neighbor, Mr. Pendir, whom Zora is convinced is the "gator man." Yet the answer is much more prosaic, as the segregated world outside Eatonville encroaches upon their town in the form of traveling man Ivory and the preternaturally beautiful yet mysterious Gold. The brilliance of this novel is its rendering of African-American child life during the Jim Crow era as a time of wonder and imagination, while also attending to its harsh realities. Absolutely outstanding. (Historical fiction. 10-16)