“Bold and imaginative.” —Tananarive Due
“This stunning allegory will spark much discussion.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A truly powerful and riveting story.” —Booklist

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. - (Simon and Schuster)

Cebo Campbell is an author and creative director based in Brooklyn, New York. Winner of the Linda B. Ross Creative Writing Award and the Stories Award for Poetry, Cebo’s work has been featured in numerous publications. Cebo is the cofounder of the award-winning creative agency, Spherical, where he leads a team of creatives in shaping the best hotel brands in the world. Sky Full of Elephants is his debut novel. - (Simon and Schuster)

Booklist Reviews

Charles Brunton and his daughter, Sidney, live in a world rebuilding itself after a mass-death event. One day, for no obvious reason, all of the white people walked into the nearest body of water. For Sidney, this meant watching her white mother and stepfamily disappear into a large lake in Wisconsin. For Charles, who is Black, it meant he was released from prison for a crime he didn't commit. Sidney, who has never met Charles, calls him for help getting to Alabama, where there is a rumored colony of white people who survived. The journey Sidney and Charles undertake is not easy; at one point, they end up at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, and Charles worries about where he will be able to charge his electric car. The thought experiment of the novel is fascinating, and the jump into a space without the many racist systems in place—and the people who benefit from them—is illuminating. This will be an uncomfortable novel for some, but it's a truly powerful and riveting story that could make for some very interesting book-discussion conversations. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

Award-winning author and creative director Campbell makes his full-length novel debut with a speculative postapocalyptic story. One day all the white people in the U.S. drowned themselves. Charles, a Black man who served time for a wrongful conviction and is now a professor, reunites with his estranged 19-year-old daughter, and they embark on a journey to search for answers. Prepub Alert. Copyright 2024 Library Journal