"Litwin, whose previous titles include Fannie Lou Hamer: Fighting for the Right to Vote (2002), offers an engaging portrait of legendary author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston's childhood was remarkable, in part because it was spent in Eatonville, Florida, the first self-governed, all–African American town in the U.S. That groundbreaking setting, along with lively anecdotes from these early years—fights with her father, encouragement from her mother, precocious conversations with strangers—will easily spark young readers' curiosity. Well-paced later chapters follow Hurston through her remarkable career, noting her extensive research into Caribbean voodoo, and include a skimming overview of her tumultuous personal life. Generously sprinkled with excerpts from Hurston's own works and illustrated with numerous black-and-white portraits of Hurston and her prominent friends and collaborators (including Langston Hughes), this strong entry in the African-American Biography Library will draw researchers as well as browsers. Source notes for direct quotes and a bibliography of suggested readings close. Engberg, Gillian" From Booklist