Zora and Me: The Summoner
Victoria Bond
eBook
(Candlewick Press, Oct. 13, 2020)
In the finale to the acclaimed trilogy, upheaval in Zora Neale Hurstonâs family and hometown persuade her to leave childhood behind and find her destiny beyond Eatonville.For Carrie and her best friend, Zora, EatonvilleâAmericaâs first incorporated Black townshipâhas been an idyllic place to live out their childhoods. But when a lynch mob crosses the townâs border to pursue a fugitive and a grave robbery resuscitates the ugly sins of the past, the safe ground beneath them seems to shift. Not only has Zoraâs own fatherâthe showboating preacher John Hurstonâdecided to run against the townâs trusted mayor, but there are other unsettling things afoot, including a heartbreaking family loss, a friendâs sudden illness, and the suggestion of voodoo and zombie-ism in the air, which a curious and grieving Zora becomes all too willing to entertain. In this fictionalized tale, award-winning author Victoria Bond explores the end of childhood and the bittersweet goodbye to Eatonville by preeminent author Zora Neale Hurston (1891â1960). In so doing, she brings to a satisfying conclusion the story begun in the award-winning Zora and Me and its sequel, Zora and Me: The Cursed Ground, sparking inquisitive readers to explore Hurstonâs own seminal work.