T. R. Simon

The Cursed Ground is the second book in the Zora and Me series, a fictionalized account of the childhood of African American author Zola Neale Hurston (1891-1960). Hurston was a writer and anthropologist, writing on racial issues in the American South and Haitian voodoo. T.R. Simon creates a world of her childhood in the early 1900s, where Zora and her best friend, Carrie Brown, live in Eatonville, Fla. Eatonville was one of the first all-black incorporated towns in the United States.

I have not read the first book in this series, but The Cursed Ground is a wonderful, bittersweet and captivating story about racial issues and the aftermath of slavery. The book alternates between Zora's time and 50 years before, telling the story of a young slave named Lucia. The tale begins when Zora and Carrie discover a secret about Mr. Polk, the town mute. Turns out that the mystery of how the mute man can actually speak is part of a bigger secret....one that might threaten the future of Eatonville.

I loved this book! The storytelling is vibrant and emotional. The characters are beautifully developed and striking. I had never heard of Zola Neale Hurston before I read this book. But I'm definitely going to read about her life and learn more. I'm on the waiting list at the library for one of her books, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Lovely book! I will definitely read more of this series!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Candlewick Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (mere)

Zora and Me: The Cursed Ground
T. R. Simon
2018

This is the sequel to Zora and Me.
Carrie and Zora are now 13 or 14 years old and have stumbled upon another mystery, one that dregs up the dark and dangerous past of slavery. This book blew me away this week. The first book was wonderful - this one even more so. The author expertly shows the horror of a previously-free child made a slave in pre-Civil War Florida and the horror that Carrie and Zora experienced when they were confronted by the memories of slavery that had been like something put of a history book to them, until now.

5 stars.… (mere)

Zora and Me
By Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
2010

This Edgar Award Nominee for best juvenile mystery takes place during the turn-of-the-century in Eatonville, a small all-black community in Florida. Zora, based on the author Zora Neal Hurston, and her best friend Carrie encounter horrible, scary, and mysterious events/clues that they try to put together by themselves. In the end, the true answer is scarier than the fantastical ideas they originally came up with.
I enjoyed, immensely, this story, though readers should be prepared for graphic racist language and situations.
4 stars.… (mere)

I really enjoyed this book which tells two intertwined stories. The first is during slavery (1855) when two girls have their friendship forever changed when they come to Florida from the Caribbean & go from being best friends & playmates to owner & owned. The second story is a fictionalized Zora neal Hurston as a child in1903 living in Eatonville Florida - the first incorporated colored town in America. But being in Eatonville doesn't mean its citizens are free of racism or the lasting effects of slavery's past.… (mere)