Durand Jones Wait Til I Get Over (Blue Jay)

Durand Jones's Wait 'Til I Get Over is a memoir and a love letter.It is the story of Jones's life, his growth and revelations, thewisdom of his hometown and the wisdom he could only gainonce he left. In it, he writes through Hillaryville's contradictions:the pristine beauty and the ragged roads; his teenage desireto leave and his adult desire to honor his tangled roots; theplantation history and the ups and downs of the Black communitythat made homes of this reparation town. "Hometowns have away of keeping a part of you," says Jones, "and if I'm makingsomething young-me would be proud of, Hillaryville is a big partof that." Jones finds something transformative in his memoriesthere and the life he has led since, ultimately claiming andembracing his whole self.The result is vulnerable, personal, touching on Jones'srelationship to church life, to his mother, to his queerness, tohis worth. "I wish I could tell my younger self 'you don't have tostick to the dreams people have for you,'" says Jones, "'you candream bigger. You are more than capable, you are more thanable. I think about some nerdy punk kid in the rural south whoneeds to hear that now.'" Wait 'Til I Get Over does exactly that.