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WISH AFTER MIDNIGHT Inspired by the work of Octavia Butler, the African American science fiction writer, as well as her favorite childhood book, The Secret Garden, debut novelist Zetta Elliott takes readers back to Civil War-era Brooklyn – and the draft riots – in her new book, A WISH AFTER MIDNIGHT Provoking the question “What if?”, Elliott’s characters yearn for what is possible in a tumultuous world. Released just in time for Black History Month, A WISH AFTER MIDNIGHT gives readers a hopeful young heroine, Genna Colon, stuck in the confines of inner city Brooklyn in 2001. Frustrated by the drug dealers in her building, her family’s cramped apartment, and her inability to compete with the cute girls at school, Genna finds comfort in her dreams of a better future. Almost every day she visits the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and tosses coins into the fountain, wishing for a different life, a different home, and a different body. When Genna flees into the garden late one night, she makes a fateful wish and finds herself instantly transported back in time to the turbulent months leading up to the notorious New York draft riots. Facing the realities of racism and class structure in Civil War–era Brooklyn, Genna must fight to hold on to her individuality and rise above the hand she has been dealt in two different worlds. Zetta Elliott earned her PhD in American Studies from New York University and has lived in Brooklyn for the past 15 years, where she has become a student of its unique history. She is also a poet and playwright, and her picture book, Bird, was the recipient of a 2009 ALA Notable Children’s Book award. |
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