Best Selling Books by Zora Neale Hurston

Created by Harvard students for students everywhere, SparkNotes books contain complete plot summaries and analyses, key facts about the featured work, analysis of the major characters, suggested essay topics, themes, motifs, and symbols, and explanations of important quotations.

"Maybe, now, we used-to-be black African folks can be of some help to our brothers and sisters who have always been white. You will take another look at us and say that we are still black and, ethnologically speaking, you will be right. But nationally and culturally, we are as white as the next one. We have put our labor and our blood into the common causes for a long time. We have given the rest of the nation song and laughter. Maybe now, in this terrible struggle, we can give something else—the source and soul of our laughter and song. We offer you our hope-bringer, High John de Conquer." Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an influential author of African-American literature and anthropologist, who portrayed racial struggles in the early 20th century American South, and published research on Haitian voodoo. Of Hurston''s four novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays, and essays, her most popular is the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Originally published in The American Mercury (1943).

" ACT I SETTING: A Negro village in Florida in our own time. All action from viewpoint of an actor facing audience. PLACE: Joe Clarke''s store porch in the village. A frame building with a false front. A low porch with two steps up. Door in center of porch. A window on each side of the door. A bench on each side of the porch. Axhandles, hoes and shovels, etc. are displayed leaning against the wall. Exits right and left. Street is unpaved. Grass and weeds growing all over. TIME: It is late afternoon on a Saturday in summer. Before the curtain rises the voices of children are heard, boisterous at play. Shouts and laughter. VOICE OF ONE BOY Naw, I don''t want to play wringing no dish rag! We gointer play chick mah chick mah craney crow. GIRL''S VOICE Yeah, less play dat, and I''m gointer to be de hen. [...]".

In "Poker!", Zora Neale Hurston skillfully delves into the intricate dynamics of African American community life during the early 20th century, employing a vibrant literary style that intertwines realism with rich, poetic dialogue. This short play showcases a high-stakes game of poker that becomes a microcosm for the larger social tensions and personal aspirations of its characters, highlighting themes of ambition, deception, and resilience. Hurston''s nuanced portrayal of her characters, coupled with her keen ear for vernacular speech, situates the work within the tradition of African American literature that both reflects and critiques societal norms of her time. Zora Neale Hurston, an influential figure of the Harlem Renaissance, was a folklorist and anthropologist whose own experiences navigating race and gender informed her writing. She traveled extensively throughout the South, immersing herself in the cultural practices of African American communities. This background informed her understanding of the complexities of human relationships and the subtleties of gaming, which she masterfully encapsulates in this play, using humor and tension to explore deeper societal truths. "Poker!" is a compelling exploration of the human condition, a testament to Hurston''s sharp wit and cultural insights. Readers seeking a rich, entertaining engagement with African American folklore and the complexities of interpersonal relationships will find this work both enlightening and enjoyable, highlighting Hurston''s enduring relevance.

The Sanctified Church is a collection of Hurston''s ground-breaking essays on Afro-American folklore, legend, popular mythology, and, in particular, the unique spiritual character of the Southern Black Christian Church. Along with preserving the customs, music, speech, and humor of rural Black America, The Sanctified Church introduces us to such extraordinary figures as Mother Catherine, matriarchal founder of a highly personal Voodoo Christian sect; Uncle Monday, healer, conjurer, and powerful herb doctor; and High John de Conquer, the trickster/shaman figure of freedom and laughter still honored in parts of rural Black America today. A pioneering ethnographer and folklore scholar, the great Zora Neale Hurston captured the exuberance, vitality and genius of Black culture with a vividness and authority unmatched by any other writer. (Back cover).

A collection of short stories, most of which appeared in literary magazines during the author''s lifetime, along with previously unpublished works, spans the career of one of the century''s foremost African American writers.

A Kirkus and Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2022! A Bank Street College of Education’s Children’s Book Committee’s Best Children’s Books of the Year pick! From beloved African American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston comes a moving adaptation by National Book Award winner and #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist and Antiracist Baby, Ibram X. Kendi. Magnolia Flower follows a young Afro Indigenous girl who longs for freedom and is gorgeously illustrated by Loveis Wise (The People Remember, Ablaze with Color). Born to parents who fled slavery and the Trail of Tears, Magnolia Flower is a girl with a vibrant spirit. Not to be deterred by rigid ways of the world, she longs to connect with others, who too long for freedom. She finds this in a young man of letters who her father disapproves of. In her quest to be free, Magnolia must make a choice and set off on a journey that will prove just how brave one can be when leading with one’s heart. The acclaimed writer of several American classics, Zora Neale Hurston wrote this stirring folktale brimming with poetic prose, culture, and history. It was first published as a short story in The Spokesman in 1925 and later in her collection Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick (2020). Tenderly retold by #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi, Magnolia Flower is a story of a transformative and radical devotion between generations of Indigenous and Black people in America. With breathtaking illustrations by Loveis Wise, this picture book reminds us that there is no force strong enough to stop love.

Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life is a 1930 play by American authors Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. The process of writing the play led Hughes and Hurston, who had been close friends, to sever their relationship. Mule Bone was not staged until 1991.

Three classic short form plays by the inimitable Zora Neale Hurston.

An Instant New York Times and Indie Bestseller! In the first middle grade offering from Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, young readers are introduced to the remarkable and true-life story of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last survivors of the Atlantic human trade, in an adaptation of the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed Barracoon. This is the life story of Cudjo Lewis, as told by himself. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America to be enslaved, eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis was then the only person alive to tell the story of his capture and bondage—fifty years after the Atlantic human trade was outlawed in the United States. Cudjo shared his firsthand account with legendary folklorist, anthropologist, and writer Zora Neale Hurston. Adapted with care and delivered with age-appropriate historical context by award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi, Cudjo’s incredible story is now available for young readers and emerging scholars. With powerful illustrations by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson, this poignant work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.

A First Folktale from the creators of Magnolia Flower, Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, about the origin of butterflies. The Creator wuz all finished and thru makin'' de world. But soon, the Creator finds themselves flying through the sky, making gorgeous butterflies of every color, shape, and size. Find out why butterflies were made in Zora Neale Hurston''s stunning and layered African American folktale retold by #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi and illustrated by Kah Yangni. This accessible and sizable board book is perfect for introducing the youngest of readers to the beauty of Hurston''s storytelling and will spark curiosity in children about how things in our world came to be.

Zora Neale Hurston’s tragic 1926 play Color Struck is a thought-provoking commentary on colorism within the Black community. Set in Florida in 1900, Colour Struck begins on a Jim Crow train carriage. Barely making the train, Emma and John''s journey commences with an argument. Emma saw John speaking to a lighter-skinned Black woman, Effie, and was immediately jealous, assuming he was flirting. Throughout the play Emma continues to display animosity towards those with lighter skin, which often results in calamity. Exploring themes of colorism, self-destruction, and hatred, Zora Neale Hurston’s 1926 tragedy comments on intra-racial racism and warns of the adverse effects of harbouring hatred. Color Struck was first published in Fire!! magazine and won second prize in the Opportunity magazine’s contest for best play. Now republished in a new edition, Hurston’s play is not one to be missed by those with an interest in Harlem Renaissance literature.

Delia Jones endures the relentless cruelty of her husband, Sykes, in a small Florida town. As a hardworking washwoman, she finds solace in her routine and the church, despite Sykes''s abusive behavior and infidelity. When Sykes brings a deadly rattlesnake into their home to terrorize her further, Delia''s fear transforms into a cold, determined rage.

Do you dare to cross paths with ... An enchantress who can slip in and out of her skin, A man more evil than the devil, A skull who talks back, A pair of creepy feet that can walk on their own? Spooky, chilling, and fantastical, this collection of six scary tales will send shivers up your spine! The stories in the skull talks back have been selected from Every Tongue Got To Confess, Zora Neale Hurston''s third volume of folklore. Through Joyce Carol Thomas''s carefully adapted text and Leonard Jenkins''s arresting illustrations, the soulful, fanciful imaginations of ordinary folk will reach readers of all ages.

A leading novel in the canon of African American literature—this free teaching guide for Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is designed to help you put the new Common Core State Standards into practice. “A deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don’t know how to live properly.”—Zadie Smith One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African American literature.

Tales as old as time, retold with utmost grace. From the storyteller and anthropologist who grew up hearing the songs and sermons, sayings and tall tales that have formed an oral history since the time of slavery, comes the treasury of Black America''s folklore. Set intimately within the social context of Black life, the stories, "big old lies," songs, voodoo customs, and superstitions recorded in these pages capture the imagination and bring back to life the humour and wisdom that is the unique heritage of Black Americans.

Florida 1928. In einer einzigen Nacht erzählt Janie ihrer besten Freundin Pheoby wie sie aufbrach, ein anderes Leben zu führen, den viel jüngeren Tea Cake traf, endlich das Glück fand, und was geschah, als der große Hurrikan kam ... Von ihrer Reise kehrt Janie als ein neuer Mensch zurück - und mit ihr alle, die ihre Geschichte hören. Der Klassiker aus den USA, zum 120. Geburtstag der Autorin neu übersetzt, gehört zu den schönsten, traurigsten und herzergreifendsten Liebesgeschichten, die je geschrieben wurden.

At low tide the hull of the Clotilde can be seen a little even now, in the marsh of Bayou Corne, in Alabama, where she was scuttled and sunk. She was the last ship to bring a cargo of “black ivory” to the United States—stealing into Mobile Bay on a sultry night in August, 1859, only two years before Abraham Lincoln was elected and only five years before Emancipation. The progeny of those last-minute slaves today still live in Alabama, mostly in the untidy clapboard village of Plateau, long also known as African Town.

Three hungry witches set out to eat two orphaned children while their grandmother is away at the market.

GOLD ANNIVERSARY EDITIONTheir Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel and the best known work by African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston. The novel narrates main character Janie Crawford''s "ripening from a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny." As a young woman, who is fair-skinned with long hair, she expects more out of life, but comes to realize that people must learn about life ''fuh theyselves'' (for themselves), just as people can only go to God for themselves. Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel was initially poorly received, but today, it has come to be regarded as a seminal work in both African-American literature and women''s literature. TIME included the novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923.

Chronology of Zora Neale Hurston: p. 201-207.

" Née en Floride en 1901, première anthropologue noire, Zora Neale Hurston ne voulait pas, disait-elle, faire partie de "l''école sanglotante de la négritude". Quand elle meurt en 1960, elle est complètement oubliée. C''est dans les années soixante-dix que les romancières noires américaines reconnaissent leur dette envers elle ; Alice Walker lui offrira même une pierre tombale posthume... " Gérard Meudal, Libération. " Un regard sans émois qui n''est pas sans rappeler celui de Chester Himes." A.E., Le Quotidien de Paris. " On dit d''Une femme noire qu''il s''agit du premier livre explicitement féministe de la littérature afro-américaine. C''est beaucoup mieux que cela : plus fin et pas du tout vindicatif-revanchard... Bravo à la traductrice qui a su adapter ce roman en respectant toutes les subtilités de la langue. Un beau voyage. " Valérie Le Du, Charlie Hebdo " C''est comme un accent chantant, un livre qu''il fait presque bon lire à voix haute. C''est un, livre qui sonne juste. Un livre qui vit. " Christophe Henning, La Voix du Nord.