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Why all young readers need to see themselves represented in books with Zetta Elliott

Updated: Oct 24

Release date: October 21, 2024


Zetta Elliott writes the kinds of books that she wanted to read when she was younger. They are sweeping, fantastic, and crackling with energy. Zetta and I discuss the latest addition to her Dragons in a Bag series, entitled The Oracle’s Door, and what it means to kids to read about aspirational protagonists with whom they share experiences, gender, and skin color. More information about Zetta, including a link to her books, is below.


Biography of Zetta Elliott


Born in Canada, Zetta Elliott moved to the US in 1994 to pursue her PhD in American Studies at NYU. She is the author of over forty books for young readers, including the award-winning picture book Bird. Dragons in a Bag, a middle grade fantasy novel, was named an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book and was selected for the 2021 Global Read Aloud; the five books in the series have sold over half a million copies. Her poetry has been published in several anthologies; her young adult poetry collection, Say Her Name, won the 2021 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry and was nominated for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. Her 2020 picture book, A Place Inside of Me, was named an ALA Notable Book and a Notable Poetry Book by the National Council of Teachers of English; the illustrator, Noa Denmon, won the Caldecott Honor Award. Elliott's verse novel, Moonwalking, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, earned five starred reviews, and made the 2023 Notable Books for a Global Society list. Her novelette, Mother of the Sea, is an ALA Great Stories Club selection for the second time this year. Elliott is an advocate for greater diversity and equity in children's literature; her essays have appeared in Blavity, The Huffington Post, and Publishers Weekly. She has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award three times. Her next picture book, A Song for Juneteenth, will be published by LBYR in 2026. She currently lives in Chicago.



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Zetta Elliott

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