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Sky Full of Elephants

By: Cebo Campbell
Narrated by: Leon Nixon, Erin Ruth Walker, Janina Edwards
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Publisher's summary

In a world without white people, what does it mean to be black?

One day, a cataclysmic event occurs: all of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charlie Brunton is a Black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he’s now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University when he receives a call from someone he wasn’t even sure existed: his daughter Sidney, a nineteen-year-old left behind by her white mother and step-family.

Traumatized by the event, and terrified of the outside world, Sidney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin. Desperate for help, she turns to the father she never met, a man she has always resented. Sidney and Charlie meet for the first time as they embark on a journey across a truly “post-racial” America in search for answers. But neither of them are prepared for this new world and how they see themselves in it.

Heading south toward what is now called the Kingdom of Alabama, everything Charlie and Sidney thought they knew about themselves, and the world, will be turned upside down. Brimming with heart and humor, Cebo Campbell’s astonishing debut novel is about the power of community and connection, about healing and self-actualization, and a reckoning with what it means to be Black in America, in both their world and ours.

©2024 Cebo Campbell (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio
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What listeners say about Sky Full of Elephants

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Beautiful. inspiring. Hopeful

Beautifully written. Requires an examination of what I believe about life, money , family and , connection.

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Deep

This is my first time really listening to an entire book. And I have to say to is was very interesting.

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Outstanding

What makes this book particularly engaging is its exploration of what healing looks like for Black America when freed from the historical legacy of whiteness. Campbell doesn’t shy away from difficult questions, such as whether it’s justifiable to pursue healing that might harm others or whether this new world is truly “better.” For Black readers, this novel offers a reflection on both empowerment and the cost of enduring generational wounds, while for non-Black readers, it offers an unsettling but necessary reimagining of racial dynamics .

This speculative fiction isn’t merely about the absence of white people; it’s a profound meditation on what remains, what is built, and how communities recover from trauma. The novel challenges traditional narratives by centering Black voices and experiences, pushing readers to reflect on both historical and present-day realities in Black America. Sky Full of Elephants is a thought-provoking, conversation-starting book that demands to be read with an open mind and a readiness to engage with its complex themes

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A story for us.

This story soothed my soul. Almost everyone I know who is Black in America has pondered a version of this thought and to see it written so masterfully healed something in me. This story reveals so much truth about our collective existence and has a profound way of sharing it.

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Definitely receiving awards

It was a little slow in the middle but once things hit the ground, it got magical.

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Imaginative

This book is so creatively written. It allows a soul the permission to accept oneself. Just the way we are intended, as we were created to be.

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Excellent

This work is excellent. It is a thoughtful and thought evoking read with many layers. The author is knowledgeable in the history and considerate in his writing. A great book to review in a class or book club

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Healing in owning shortcomings

I enjoyed the poetic language used to describe feels, thoughts, and grand ideas. A book about freedom of self and freedom from all the holds you down. This is not book to comfort an abuser

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Beautiful

I'll need to listen more than once to truly take in the complexity of this story in words although my spirit understands.

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A powerful set of concepts

What stood out the most to me were the messages that: there is another option to this current state of divisiveness and hatred against others; there are indisputable historical and current strengths of people of African descent that can benefit all of humanity; and that family and community, music, and living in harmony are critical values and experiences that lead to us thriving.

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