Zora!: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston

As a teacher, I would use the book that I have evaluated. I would use the book in my classroom library, and use it as a source to depict the life and times of famous African American writers in our country. I may use this book as a pairing with the Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Are

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Watching God, or I could use it as an option for young readers to appreciate the hardship many writers need to go through to pursue a writing career. I may even use excerpt of the books to introduce topics such as the Harlem Renaissance, plagiarism, the 1930s, or the Black experience in the North.

I chose the non-fiction book, Zora! The Life of Zora Neale Hurston, by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin. This book is a non-fiction book that utilizes documents, journals, diaries, and albums to present their information. Although Fradin and Fradin could not gather first-hand accounts of the famous author, significant portions of the book used first hand accounts including compilation of Zora Neal Hurston’s letters edited by Carla Kaplin, a compilation of letters by Zora’s closest friend for many years, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston’s own autobiography Dust Tracks on the Road, and several of Ms. Neale’s own works. The images presented in the book accurately depict the time and support the information given, including pictures of friends and relatives, objects related to Zora’s occupations, places where she lived, images from her carrier as a playwright, and captions of personal quotes derived from newspaper articles, collections and archives dedicated to preserving the life of Zora Neale Hurston. Secondary sources include biographies written by Robert E. Hemenway, which was named one of the New York Times' Best Books of 1978, Valerie Boyd whose work of the author was critically acclaimed, and Lucy Anne Hurston, Zora’s niece. The book is written in charter-length format, inserts Zora’s own writing, and although no notes from the authors are presented, the book provides a timeline, chapter-by-chapter source notes, bibliography, image credits, and an index.

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