Feb Staff Pick of the Month: Yonder

Picked by Lori, bookseller

Now out in paperback!

Lori, who curates our Black History Month display, recommends Yonder by Jabari Asim (Simon & Schuster) for readers who enjoyed one of her previous picks, The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.

Of Yonder, Lori writes, “The slaves are The Stolen, their masters are The Thieves, and Yonder (Canada) is the promised land of freedom. The story of slavery and all of its horrors is not new, but this book focuses instead on the intimacy and love The Stolen feel for each other under the harshest conditions. Allegorical, poetic, and unflinchingly honest, it had me reading through tears of sadness and joy.”

In picking this book, Lori was looking for a good read to kick-off Black History month, and she thinks that it will appeal to readers who want complex stories of the challenges and joys of Black people in America.

“I would consider this a companion piece to The Prophets, which tells the story of a passionate affair between two enslaved young men, another book depicting slaves as loving people looking for intimate connections in the face of the most hopeless of times,” Lori writes. Read her review of The Prophets from last February.

Lori writes that she enjoyed and was intrigued enough by Yonder to add other books by Jabari Asim to her TBR. Maybe she’ll find something that works for next year’s Key West Literary Seminar, which has the theme I Sing, America: A Celebration of Black Literature, and for which she is the chairperson.