Onyx and Beyond is a novel in verse by Amber McBride and was a Macmillan Audio pick that surprised me! I didn’t actually realize this was a novel in verse until I started listening to it and realized the short chapters with metaphorical language and an abundance of imagery must be poems! 

From the synopsis: “Based on her own father's story of growing up in the 1960s and facing the same challenge with his own mother, award winner Amber McBride delivers another affecting depiction of being young and Black in America.” These poems paint a picture of what Alexandria, Maryland is like after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for a young Black boy who also experiences the loss of his grandmother while his mother suffers dementia. These poems portray the world as a place where magic is possible if only the correct magical stone is found, if space can be explored for healing properties and the bittersweet realization that maybe flight is possible, but not on physical wings. Onyx spends so much time planning to help his mother and hiding her condition, it’s not until he opens up to his extended family that he finds the wings he needed were those of his community. 

Overall, the story might have been about a young Black boy and his sick mother, but the message was for unity and community amongst Black Americans, who can lift each other and fly when united. 

The end of this book shares a dedication to Robin Gibson, of whom I had never heard before, but who the author states was a big deal in 1970 as he was a young Black man killed at a 7-Eleven in Alexandria; he was someone all the local kids are said to have looked up to, and he died at only age 19, far too soon. The author directs readers to read about him here: https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/07/archives/weeks-disorders-end-in-alexandria.html

This book was absolutely five stars, and the audiobook was narrated with audible passion by André Santana.