Jabari Asim Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Children's Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of A Child's Introduction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Jabari Asim is a literary fiction author playwright, poet, and Emerson College professor of publishing, literature, and writing.

The man was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1962, and right from his childhood, he was always interested in literary pursuits. While he was a student at Southwest High School, he was the editor of the school newspaper.
In 1980 following his graduation from high school, he majored in journalism at the Illinois-based Northwestern University. Jabari chose Northwestern since it had one of the best programs in the country.
However, he prove to be an indifferent student who read a lot but did not like to study according to an interview he gave to the Washington Post when he was an editor there.

Some of his best memories at college involved heading out to Evanston Chicago to haunt the used-book stores while skipping classes. During this time, he unearthed all manner of treasured works that he still has to this day.
Throughout this period, there is nothing he wanted to do more than read, even if he disliked having to do the term papers, quizzes, and exams that were requisite coursework.

In an unexpected move, Jabari Asim left college a semester before he would graduate, as he would later describe himself in an interview with Poynter Institute’s Emily Christensen as clueless, defiant, and arrogant.

He went back to St. Louis where he got a job working retail and embarked on a writing career that would ultimately earn him fame as a local playwright. It was also the writing which would ultimately get him a job working for the “St. Louis Dispatch.”
Jabari’s first national byline was in “Essence’s” March 1992 issue. The publication published “Getting Out Alive,” his personal essay that chronicled the decline of the St Louis suburb where he had grown up and still called home.
He was by this time a married man with several kids and he detailed the fear he felt when the neighborhood experienced flare-ups of violence with the rising summer heat.

Ironically, he had always been a man that was a huge advocate of city living and often praised people that remained in their communities and were role models.

Ultimately, his optimism would seem to him to be very naive and misguided. He would come to believe that it would need a lot of infusion of skilled and dedicated African Americans to make any difference in the Black neighborhoods.

Jabari Asim worked for the “St. Louis Post Dispatch” as an arts editor for the weekend entertainment section and as a book editor.

In 1998, he was offered a job as a reviewer for the “Book World on the Washington Post.” All that time while he was working on the paper, he used to work on his own projects too.

In 2000, he published a young adult novel titled “The Road to Freedom.” In 2001, he was an editor for the “Not Guilty Collection,” which has contributors such as E. Lynn Harris the novelist, and Ricardo Cortez Crus the “Straight OuttaCompton” author.
In 2005, Jabari Asim got a promotion to become “Washington Post Book World,” deputy editor. Two years later, he stepped down from his position as he had been made editor-in-chief of the official publication of the NAACP “The Crisis.”
This was a bimonthly magazine that had been founded in 1910 by W.E.B. Dubois and is still being mailed free of charge to all members of the NAACP.

“Yonder” is a brilliant work by cultural critic and novelist Jabari Asim who delivers a redemptive and searing story of survival and slavery.

The work is set in the South during the antebellum period and is narrated primarily by the “Stolen,” who are enslaved people who refer to their enslavers as “Thieves.” They are owned by Cannonball Green, a cruel and philandering pseudo-intellectual.
Zander is a teenager who finds inspiration in the myths of Buba Yalis and has a deep belief that he will one day come to soar just like his ancestors did in Africa.

Meanwhile, Cato tries to deal with the grief of the death of his lover by trying to make sense of seven words picked by the elders of the community and given to each African child at birth.

The community believes that words have enough power and that they would one day be able to change their condition. William does not believe words have that much power and instead places his belief in action.
When he stops the plantation slave foreman from bullying Zander his action results in a huge fight. Cupid ends up dead, killed by Cato who steps in, and together with Willaim they bury the foreman in the woods.
Greene is furious when he discovers his foreman is missing and the slaves fearing his wrath and listening to promises of freedom from a wandering Black preacher, begin considering a dangerous escape.

Jabari Asim’s work “What Obama Means” is an exultation of everything about President Barack Obama.

This work takes a historical approach to the man that was the 43rd president of the United States, as it focuses on his political forebears and pop culture and how his election and presidency changed everything.
According to Asim, Obama was influenced by the likes of Colin Powell, Michael Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Prince, Chris Rock, Usher, and Jay Z among many others.

The author takes in how the tide of American empowerment swept across the United States and the drastic impact it had on Americans whether they were black or not.

Jabari deftly handles the intricacies of oratory among Black people such as Barbara Jordan. Jordan made the keynote speech at the DNC in 1976, cementing the legacy of responsibility and language, which inspired the likes of Obama.
While Asim does not set out to tie Obama to eloquence in the mold of the likes of MLK or Barbara Jordan, he runs through the history of the oratory of African Americans in the public eye.
While it is done in a pop culture style, it would still be a very appropriate work for serious students of sociology and history.

“Only the Strong” by Jabari Asim is a stylish and thoroughly entertaining crime fiction work set in a fictionalized version of St Louis known as Gateway City during the 1970s.
Lorenzo Tulliver nicknamed Guts is a thirty-five-year-old man that was an enforcer for Ananias Goode, a gangster chieftain who sometimes calls him when he is shorthanded.
However, his main business now is running a fleet of taxi cabs. He leads a more tranquil life alongside a gorgeous woman named Pearl Jordan.

He has been in a romantic relationship with Pearl for about three years. She is an ambitious woman who dreams of one day having her own dance studio.

While she is interested in getting married, Gut is reluctant since he sometimes gets involved in a dangerous and violent lifestyle.

In the recent past, he had been called by Goode who wants a special favor from him. He Is to watch over Rip Crenshaw, a flashy baseball player since Goode his boss does not trust Sharps his replacement officer with the job.
As Guts and Goode take their final steps to go back onto the straight and narrow they have to deal with an inevitable showdown with their enemies and past troubles.