Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Story-catcher Zora Neale Hurston by Alicia D. Williams (review)

Williams, Alicia D. Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston; illus. by Jacqueline Alcántara. Dlouhy/Atheneum, 2021 [48p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781534419131 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781534419148 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* 7-10 yrs

Storyteller, story writer, story collector—Zora Neale Hurston's folklorist vocation was pretty well preordained from childhood, as Williams conveys in this vibrant picture book biography. Obstacles and melodrama are scattered in her path, from her mother's death and the ensuing stepmother drama, to poverty that lapped at the edges of her career even at its height, but it seems inevitable the child who would waylay motorists with her stories would grow into the woman who would mingle with the greats in the Harlem Renaissance and parlay a Barnard College senior project into groundbreaking curation of Black folklore. Williams' narration is a readaloud dream, tinged but not overburdened with regional dialect, and packing far more content into rousing text than most picture book bios can boast. Alcántara's artwork revels in the tropical colors of Zora's Eatonville, Florida home ground and cleverly incorporates insets featuring whimsical motifs from Zora's tales. This is an excellent age match for picture book presentations of Hurston's work (e.g., Lies and Other Tall Tales, BCCB 1/06), and with its additional biographical end matter and suggestions for further reading, it will be a joyful guide for folklore enthusiasts.