A tall tale inspired by the life and works of American writer, folklorist, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston

Small-girl Zora knows her stories are going to change the world. Although her neighbors might not believe her outlandish tales, she’s sure they’re the key to ending the drought in her town. If she can make people laugh at her stories, she’ll be able to gather enough tears to bring back her mama’s garden and more. But when things don’t go exactly as planned, Zora learns that with creativity, determination, and faith, a little magic might be possible.

Filled to the brim with references to Zora Neale Hurston’s classic characters and details from her own life, Small-Girl Zora and the Shower of Stories is a joyful tribute to an icon of American literature and the everlasting power of storytelling.

BIO

Giselle Liza Anatol specializes in Caribbean, U.S. African American, and multicultural American literature, as well as works for young readers. In 2015, she published The Things That Fly in the Night: Female Vampires in Literature of the Circum-Caribbean and African Diaspora (Rutgers University Press). This book takes up a demonic, skin-shedding, bloodsucking figure from the Trinidadian folklore of Anatol's youth, and explores the significance of different incarnations of the creature in children’s stories, calypso lyrics, travel writing, and contemporary adult fiction. Anatol has also edited three collections of scholarly essays on popular fantasy literature for children and young adults: Reading Harry Potter (2003), a follow-up volume called Reading Harry Potter Again (2009), and Bringing Light to Twilight: Perspectives on the Pop Culture Phenomenon (2011).

Most recently, Anatol made her debut in creative writing with the picture book Small-Girl Toni and the Quest for Gold, illustrated by Coretta Scott King honoree Raissa Figueroa (Viking 2023), and a contribution to the middle-grade horror anthology The Haunted States of America (Henry Holt/Macmillan 2024).

Professor Anatol has served as the president of the international Association of Caribbean Women Writers & Scholars, the director of KU’s J. Wayne & Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, and is currently the director of the Hall Center for the Humanities.

[H]  Viking Books for Young Readers  /  January 13, 2026

0.31" H x 9.11" L x 11.01" W (0.9 lbs) 32 pages

For ages 4 - 8