ZETTA ELLIOTT

Gives Voice to the Diverse Realities of Children

by Melissa Fales
photo by Tim VanBeek

Author Zetta Elliott has written over 40 books, including titles for children, teens, and adults. Her latest, the third installment of her popular Dragons in a Bag series, The Witch’s Apprentice, will be released January 18. Elliott’s series is unique in that it’s a middle grade, urban fantasy adventure that features children of color as the main characters. “All my fantasy fiction aims to center kids who have been marginalized within the genre,” Elliott says. “My goal is also to disrupt certain conventions such as who can be a witch or wizard, how they look, where they live, etc. I want kids to know that magic can happen to anyone, anywhere.”     

Elliott’s parents were both teachers and encouraged their children to read. “I have lots of fond memories of the many hours I spent at our public library,” she says. “I definitely went through a Frances Hodgson Burnett phase: The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Lost Prince. I also loved The Magic Cave by Ruth Chew; she was a Brooklyn author who often wrote about Prospect Park so it’s not too surprising I grew up to do the same.” The youngest of three children, Elliott says she remembers trying to keep up with her siblings. “When that failed, I had to entertain myself and I think that’s probably when I started to develop an active dream life,” she says. 

A dedicated teacher identified Elliott’s writing potential early on. “I only wrote for school until my ninth-grade English teacher, Nancy Vichert, took me aside and told me I had a future as a writer,” says Elliott. “She said if I wanted to become a writer, I needed to commit to writing every day. So I did.” 

Elliott got the idea to write the Dragons in a Bag series after she received a special gift. “My friend Marie sent me four tiny dragons and I put them in an empty mint tin so I could carry them with me in my bag,” says Elliott. “I thought that was an interesting premise for a novel, but instead of an author in Brooklyn, I would write about a witch!” Dragons in a Bag, book one of the series, was released in 2018 and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. Book two, The Dragon Thief was published in 2019. 

Elliott says creating the Dragons in a Bag series gave her an opportunity to portray characters of color in a genuine way. “I read so much British fantasy fiction as a child and most of those books entirely erased or misrepresented kids of color,” she says. The protagonist of the series is Jaxon, a young Black boy living in Brooklyn who embarks on a series of magical adventures. 

In The Witch’s Apprentice, Jaxon tries to unravel the mystery about a sleeping sickness that is taking over New York City. “It’s a book about secrets and how they can harm our relationships,” says Elliott. “Jaxon is ready to begin his training so he can someday become a witch like Ma, but she no longer seems interested in sharing her knowledge with him.” The book sees the return of a certain character from The Dragon Thief, and Jaxon is forced to make some important decisions. 

While the characters in The Witch’s Apprentice are fictitious, Elliott says there’s a little of her personality wrapped up in every character she creates. “I was close to my grandparents, so I often write about elders, but I’ve never met anyone like Ma!”

Elliott recently completed her first graphic novel, The Boy in the Lake, a genre she hopes to explore further. “Last year I adapted my YA collection of poetry, Say Her Name, and we’re still working to get that on stage,” she says. “I have an MG novel-in-verse coming out in April; I wrote Moonwalking with Lyn Miller-Lachmann and think young readers will really appreciate the two boys’ different points of view. In 2023 my picture book, A Song for Juneteenth, will come out along with book four of the Dragons in a Bag series, The Enchanted Bridge.”

“It’s hurtful to never see yourself in the pages of a book or up on the big screen. I don’t want any child to feel invisible or less valuable because they were excluded from an exciting, magical adventure.”

Elliott seemingly effortlessly shifts between writing books for adults and younger readers. “When you know your audience, I think it’s fairly easy to write for different age groups,” she says. “Some stories require a different way of being told so it helps being able to write poetry, plays, novels, and short stories. I think I’d quickly get dissatisfied if I only wrote in one genre, using one format, or for just one audience. I feel that many adults underestimate young readers. I enjoy writing complex characters for children to encounter in my books. I want kids to question what makes one character the hero and another the villain.”  

Elliott says when she started writing for children 20 years ago, it was to create books about Black characters, books she didn’t get to read when she was a child. “It’s hurtful to never see yourself in the pages of a book or up on the big screen,” she says. “I don’t want any child to feel invisible or less valuable because they were excluded from an exciting, magical adventure.”

Even when she’s writing books for children, Elliott is writing for grown-ups as well. “Adults generally control the children’s literature industry,” she says. “Kids don’t decide what gets published or which titles win (most) awards. Since books are often selected for children by the grown-ups in their world (parents, librarians, educators), it’s important that adults educate themselves, so they know how to pick accurate, nourishing narratives.”

Readers often tell Elliott how much they appreciate the inclusivity of her books. “Many adults of color reach out to me and describe their child’s experience seeing themselves in one of my books,” she says. “They go on to share how they never had ‘mirror books’ when they were young; many of us are still recovering from that painful experience of erasure.”

Elliott hopes adults of all colors will use her books as tools and starting points for further exploration about racial issues. “My books can also help start a conversation that parents might find confusing or intimidating,” she says. “Milo’s Museum is about a Black girl who doesn’t see her culture or her community reflected in her local museum, so she finds a way to display all the things that are valuable and important to her. That book was included in several anti-racist reading lists following the murder of George Floyd; it was also on a list of teaching materials banned this past fall by a school board in York, PA. Parents who want to address injustice in our society sometimes rely on books with simple, accessible narratives to start a conversation with their children.”

For more information about Zetta Elliott and her books, visit zettaelliott.com.