Awards-

• Notable Children's Books
  Association for Library Service to Children

Excerpts-

• From the cover

  Mama strokes my cheek with her finger before pressing the doorbell. I feel tears pooling behind my eyes, but I will them not to fall. Mama has enough to worry about right now.

   

  “It’s only for a little while, Jaxon. I’ll be back before you know it.”

   

  I nod and look up at the peephole in the door. If I look down at my feet, the tears will fall and my nose will start to run and Mama will know I don’t want her to leave me here.

   

  Mama’s biting her lip and tapping her toe nervously. She presses the doorbell again, letting it ring longer this time. We both hear someone stirring—and cursing—inside the apartment. Mama laughs nervously and says, “Ma curses like a sailor sometimes, but she’s a harmless old lady. She’s fun, too—you’ll like her, Jax.”

   

  I never even knew I had a grandmother living in Brooklyn. Mama never mentioned her before. Sometimes Mama hides things from me—or that’s what I let her believe. Mama thinks I don’t know our landlord’s trying to get rid of us. She takes down the eviction notices he pins to our front door, but I still know what’s going on. Today Mama has to go to court. I want to go with her, but Mama wants to leave me here instead.

   

  A heavy body shuffles toward the door. Mama and I wait patiently as at least three locks are turned. The chain stays on and lets the door open just a crack. I cringe as a raspy voice asks, “What you want?”

   

  Mama smiles sweetly and places her palm against the door. She speaks slowly and politely. “It’s just us, Ma. I called this morning and told you we were coming. Remember?”

   

  The woman behind the door barks at Mama, “Course I remember. You called and asked if you could leave the boy with me and I said NO!”

   

  The sweet smile on Mama’s face doesn’t budge. If anything, it hardens. Mama tries to push the door open, but the chain’s still on and my mysterious grandmother doesn’t seem ready to move out of the way.

   

  Mama puts her other hand on the doorframe and leans in so that the woman on the other side of the door can see and hear just how desperate she is. “It’s only for a few hours. Please, Ma. You’re all he has.”

   

  I step back and wonder if that’s really true. I’m sure Vikram would let me stay at his house for a while. His parents like me and don’t mind having me around. Mrs. Patel calls me a good influence. That’s what the grown-ups who know me always say. But this mean lady won’t even open the door and give me a chance. If she doesn’t want me around, that’s fine by me.

   

  But it’s not okay with Mama. She’s whispering to the woman behind the door, but her smile is gone now, and there are tears shining on her cheeks. I want to hold Mama’s hand, but instead I take another step back and hold on to the straps of my book bag. Mama’s saying one word over and over again: please.

   

  I have never seen my mother beg anyone for anything. But it doesn’t work, because the door finally closes. Mama rests her forehead against it before wiping her eyes and turning to me. “Let’s go, Jax,” she says wearily.

   

  I sigh with relief and take Mama’s hand. Just as we start to walk down the stairs, I hear the chain slide, and the door opens once more.

   

  “One day. Give me your word, Alicia. One day.”

   

  Mama says,...

About the Author-

• Zetta Elliott was born in Canada and moved to the United States in 1994. Her poetry has been published in several anthologies, and her plays have been staged in New York and Chicago. Her essays have appeared in the Huffington Post, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. She is the author of over twenty-five books for young readers, including the award-winning picture books Bird and Melena's Jubilee. She is also a contibutor to We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, published by Crown Books for Young Readers. Elliott is an advocate for greater diversity and equity in publishing. A longtime resident of Brooklyn, she currently lives in Illinois. Learn more at zettaelliott.com.

Reviews-

• 

  August 6, 2018
  When nine-year-old Jaxon’s mom leaves him to stay with “Ma,” the woman who raised her (presumably, his grandmother), he is startled by a mysterious, moving package on her table. Soon, Jax learns that Ma is a witch to whom his mother was once apprenticed, and that the package contains three baby dragons that must be delivered to a parallel realm, since Brooklyn lacks sufficient magic to sustain the beasts. Jax joins her, deciding he’d like to be her apprentice, but the transporter, an old guardhouse in Prospect Park, mistakenly deposits them in the Mesozoic era instead. When a dinosaur threatens them, Ma pushes Jax and her dragon-filled purse into the transformer, and Jax arrives back in Brooklyn with two essential missions: save Ma, and safeguard the dragons. Filled with entertaining characters, including the grandfather Jax has never met and a man who may just be invisible, the story entertains from start to finish. Readers will mirror Jax’s surprise at and joy in discovering the world Elliott (Bird) brings to life. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary.

• There are so few children's fantasy books with urban African-American characters. Ron Butler's narration enhances this welcome and refreshing option for fantasy audiobook fans. When 9-year-old Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he is shocked to find out she's a witch. She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world, but a glitchy transporter sends Ma to the Mesozoic era, while Jaxon is returned to Brooklyn to protect the baby dragons alone. Butler hilariously conveys the bewildered amazement of Jaxon, and the raspy bark of the gruff, no-nonsense Ma. Unique voices for an assortment of Ma's eccentric friends in Brooklyn round out this entertaining listen. S.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

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