--- description: Find out why "Above Ground" By Clint Smith is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Above Ground' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e5b09715f1870fc/698a4204cabb1d249de51ecc/AboveGround.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # Above Ground By Clint Smith by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  The award-winning poet and journalist [Clint Smith](https://time.com/5595475/prison-phone-calls-connecticut-law/ "undefined") tackles the joys and tribulations of parenthood in his latest poetry collection, _Above Ground._ Written over the course of six years in which he welcomed two children, Smith’s collection attempts to view the world with the same wide-eyed wonder that his son and daughter do. It’s hard not to be tickled by his descriptions of his kids picking a flower for the first time, watching a ladybug fly across the room, or throwing a spontaneous dance party in the kitchen. But Smith knows that parenting is not always answering questions about jellyfish and giraffes, two animals that inspire some of the sweetest and most enlightening poems in the book. With wisdom and empathy, he tries to unpack the ways in which the world can be cruel and unforgiving, especially toward Black people. In “National Anthem,” a woman’s furious reaction to Colin Kaepernick kneeling becomes a sobering reminder of the prejudice his little boy will face as he gets older. In the anthology’s titular poem, Smith spots the golden exoskeleton of a cicada, which emerges from the ground after 17 years, and he wonders if climate change will keep them from returning in another 17\. Yet, like so many poems in this moving follow up to his 2021 nonfiction book [_How the Word Is Passed_](https://time.com/collection/100-must-read-books-2021/6120667/how-the-word-is-passed/ "undefined")_,_ Smith finds faith in the unknowable and hope in a world that is ever changing. —_Shannon Carlin_ **Buy Now:** _Above Ground_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780316543033 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/463ZO7R "undefined") Above Ground: 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332713/above-ground/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332713/above-ground/"},"headline":"Above Ground","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:26:00.122Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332713/above-ground/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e5b09715f1870fc/698a4204cabb1d249de51ecc/AboveGround.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e5b09715f1870fc/698a4204cabb1d249de51ecc/AboveGround.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332713/above-ground/","name":"Above Ground"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332713/above-ground/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332713/above-ground/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```