Yonder by Jabari Asim

Wow, I loved this book. The cover of the version that I read has a reproduction of Jacob Lawrence's Harriet Tubman Series #4--I did not know this, but he did 31 paintings in this series, celebrating the woman who guided so many slaves northward to freedom. The book is set in 1852 on a Southern plantation called Placid Hall (which is the antithesis of what it is to live there). It explores the intertwined lives of four enslaved people: William, Cato, Margaret and Pandora. The beauty of this is that there is no grey in this book. The slaves are known as the Stolen and they measure the passing of the years by harvests rather than ticks of a clock. The chapters alternate between the points of view of each character, allowing readers to hear their voices and understand their thoughts, hopes and fears. It renders them human as they navigate the abuse at the hand of their owner, Randolph “Cannonball” Greene, known as a Thief. There is a lot of territory covered in this. It explores the emotional and psychological acrobatics the Stolen must go through to transcend the many layers of their subjugation: First as human cargo, then as property — purchased, traded and discarded. The characters often wrestle with loving deeply, struggling to fight the feelings of attachment, fearing that if those emotions are revealed, they will be exploited and then forcibly extinguished. Some of them come to believe that human connection is futile because at any moment those alliances can be severed. Amid the bleakness, though, there is resilience, tenderness and community among the Stolen, a thread of spirituality and an upholding of traditions. Then finally, the journey northward. There is humanity, cruelty, avarice, and joy to the found in this.