High Yella speaks to anyone yearning to feel at home in their own skin, who need to know they can belong somewhere inside a less than welcoming society. As Steve Majors eloquently reveals a legacy of racial confusion through his own personal lens, he exposes our limitations and our capacities for love, tolerance, and generosity. His foibles and insight, especially when it comes to his own children, provide us with a substantial dose of hope and inspiration. -- David Tabatsky * author of American Misfit and coauthor of Dear President Obama * Steve Majorss gripping memoir provides a glimpse into the soul of a tormented man caught in the crossfire of two cruel worldsone black, one whiteas he struggles to find where he truly belongs. With a cast of unforgettably colorful characters, High Yella is a story of great relevance that courageously and delicately sheds light on one of today's most polarizing issuesracial discrimination. A must-read for anyone who endeavors to unconditionally love his fellow man! -- Ray Studevent * author of Black Sheep * Few people on earth can write from the perspective of someone who is black but also white, gay but oft mistaken for straight, Catholic but tied to Judaism . . . with a white-picket-fence present and an improbably complicated past. High Yella is a story that begged to be told, and, what luck, the protagonist of this real-life tale happens to be a masterclass writer. This delicately crafted memoir is a testament to the unquantifiable things that connect familynot cells and DNA, but shared experiences and unconditional love. -- Debbie Bornstein Holinstat * author of Survivors Club * Steve Majorss heart-wrenching and honest family memoir never sugarcoats, romanticizes, or dehumanizes. Whether hes tackling growing up poor and Black, family abuse, racial passing, substance misuse, interracial relationships, marriage, or raising adopted kids as a gay dad, Majors tells every part of this singular, moving, and necessary story with clear eyes and care. Just like family, this beautiful, heartbreaking book will find its way into your bones. -- Eman Quotah * author of Bride of the Sea * What are the complex histories that roil under our composed, accomplished surfaces? Steve Majors has brought his to the fore. Hes written a gripping, moving, and wrenchingly honest book about his life that I couldnt put down. He was born to write. -- Pia Z. Ehrhardt * author of Famous Fathers & Other Stories and Now We Are Sixty * Steve Majors's memoir, High Yella, is a feast of literary brilliance. As a Black child of the American South, I understand the weight of the title and the struggle of those who bear it. This is why I was so deeply moved by Majors' courage and vulnerability in opening up about his struggle for a definable racial identity. Inside this struggle are the lives of three generationstheir stories raw, beautiful, authentic, and unrelentingly poignant. Full of immensely colorful people, signature cultural moments, hysterical colloquial phrases, and some of the best prose I have read in a very long time, High Yella is a gift to society and a book that I will always treasure. -- Jeffrey Blount * author of The Emancipation of Evan Walls * A brave reckoning with multiple issues of identity, class, family, race, and other thorny issues. * Kirkus Reviews * In a memoir as gripping and relevant as James McBrides The Color of Water, Majors bares himself and his family with jaw-dropping honesty. Not since Kiese Laymons Heavy have I felt the blood and guts on every page. With a page-turner that reads like a novel, High Yella unflinchingly examines the impact of systemic racism, sexism, poverty, and homophobia on one American family. In his struggle to create a new family of his own, free of the generational trauma he inherited, Majors digs deep with piercing self-reflection. The great triumph is that High Yella is not only one mans unique and vital story, but also an example, a path forward for us all to heal from the shameful legacies that haunt us individually and as a nation. -- David Santos Donaldson * author of award-winning Greenland *
