Publisher Profile: Restless Books / Yonder
The CBC asks Jennifer Alise Drew, Senior Editor, questions about the publisher.
How did your publishing house start out?
Our founders, Ilan Stavans, Annette Hochstein, and Joshua Ellison, began Restless Books in 2013 as a digital publisher of work from around the world. They felt American commercial publishers too rarely extended their gaze beyond our own borders. Restless’s guiding conviction has always been that readers are naturally hungry for new destinations, experiences, and perspectives, so we set out to feed this hunger and curiosity with a richer diet of international literature, and to reclaim a sense of what it means to be restless—“stirring constantly, desirous of action.”
Clearly they were on to something. In 2014, Restless expanded into print and international distribution (first with Simon & Schuster, and now PGW). In 2017, we launched Yonder: Restless Books for Young Readers, an imprint devoted to bringing the wealth of great stories from around the globe to English-reading children, middle-graders, and young adults. Since then, we’ve published 19 children’s titles (with many more to come!), translated from the Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Greek, French, Swedish, Korean, Finnish, Hebrew, Estonian, Icelandic, and Italian.
What is your publishing house most known for?
Restless Books and our imprint Yonder are best known for publishing translated literature and debut literary works by first-generation immigrants.
Where in the country is your house based? What do you love about being based there?
We spent the first decade of our publishing life in Gowanus, Brooklyn. In early 2023, we decided to move to Amherst, Massachusetts. While Amherst is three hours north of the publishing nexus that is New York City, it has a vibrant literary community. We are located in the heart of downtown Amherst, one block up from the Emily Dickinson Museum. The space we now occupy also doubles as a storefront for our books, which form a colorful backdrop along one wall; on the other side are large mirrors, a holdover from the barbershop that occupied the building before us. Previous to that, the location was a student laundry. It’s easy to imagine customers sharing an abundance of stories here, intimate and significant, while getting haircuts or washing their clothes. It seems fitting that our books are now continuing those conversations.
How many full-time employees does your house have?
Restless Books has three full-time employees, two part-time editors, and a rotating gaggle of tremendously talented student interns.
How many books does your house aim to publish per season/year?
This is a topic of much debate! If we follow our own rule, then it’s no more than ten new books per year. Of these, at least two are Yonder books, one emerges from our annual Prize for New Immigrant Writing, and the rest are a mix of fiction and nonfiction. Inevitably, an amazing book will crop up, and even though our plate is already full, it can be hard to say no. Right now we’re trying to figure out how many “extras” we can get away with, since (like many independent publishers) we’re a pretty small operation and have to spend our time and money wisely. This year, we will also begin publishing poetry and plays.
What are some of your house’s publishing priorities over the next few years?
We have long wanted to add poetry to our list, which we will begin doing in 2025. This year, we will also begin publishing plays; our first volume is What This Place Makes Me, an anthology by seven immigrant writers. For our Yonder imprint, we are looking to publish more young adult titles, and we would love to publish our first graphic novel.
We are also always looking for more titles by authors who identify as disabled and/or queer. While disability representation in popular media and culture has risen over the past decade, there is much room for improvement. We won’t talk about book bans, but suffice to say that humanity will benefit when children are free to read whatever speaks to them. Being able to see yourself reflected in the stories you fall in love with as a young person is so important.
Which title has your house recently rallied behind?
The House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwaba, translated from the Japanese by Avery Fischer Udagawa and illustrated by Yukiko Saito, was just published late last year. It’s our second book with this author-translator pair, and it’s tremendous, not only because it brings Kashiwaba’s trademark blend of Japanese folklore and magic to English-speaking children, but because it centers on a topic you don’t see as often in children’s books: recovery from a natural disaster. The book takes place right after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and allows children to see that even after a traumatic event, we can find our way through with the strength of our communities and our own resilience. The House of the Lost on the Cape was just named a 2024 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book; it was also one of Kirkus Reviews’ 10 Essential Middle-Grade Books for Fall 2023 and a 2023 Cybils Awards Finalist for Speculative Middle Grade Fiction. It will soon be available as an audiobook!
Which upcoming titles is your house buzzing about?
In October, we will publish John the Skeleton by Triinu Laan, illustrated by Marja-Liisa Plats, and translated from the Estonian by Adam Cullen. The book is breathtaking, with black and white drawings threaded with a vibrant fuschia, and weaves aging and death into the fabric of life, crafting a tender, often humorous portrait of what it means to care for one another, grow old together, and appreciate the little things. It won so many awards in the original Estonian—it was the 2022 Bologna Children’s Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition winner, took third place in the 2022 Nukits competition, won the 2021 White Raven, the 2021 Tartu Prize for Children’s Literature, and others.
Which of your frontlist titles would be great for a school or public library?
Daniel and Ismail by Juan Pablo Iglesias Yacher, illustrated by Alex Peris, and translated from the Spanish by Ilan Stavans, into the Hebrew by Eliezer Nowodworski and Frieda Press-Danieli, and into the Arabic by Randa Sayegh. The book tells the story of two boys, one Jewish and the other Palestinian, who bond over their shared love of soccer. Our hardcover edition of this title was published in 2019, and we’re bringing out a paperback edition in March. While a book cannot begin to solve the ongoing and enormous suffering in the Middle East, it can offer something that feels scant these days: hope.
Which of your frontlist titles would be great for a classroom? Which grade?
The Wildcat Behind Glass, by Alki Zei and translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich. The novel was first published in English in 1963 and won the Batchelder Award in 1970. Karen Emmerich has written a lively new translation, which we’re excited to introduce to today’s middle-grade readers and beyond. While the story takes place in the 1930s, when Greece and other European countries were being ripped apart by fascism, it is a timeless story of adventure, friendship, self-discovery, and growing up. Even though it is intended for middle-grade readers, it can be enjoyed by the whole family. Deborah Ellis, author of The Breadwinner, says, “[t]his is a book I wish I’d read as a kid, but even for a woman approaching old age, it is wonderful! The story is imaginative and daring and will call to that part of every reader that wants to be more courageous, adventurous, and kind.” Out on May 7!
Which of your frontlist tiles would be great for an at-home library?
Temple Alley Summer by Sachiko Kashiwaba, translated from the Japanese by Avery Fischer Udagawa, and illustrated by Miho Satake. Published in 2021, it was Kashiwaba’s first book to be translated for English-speaking audiences. This book is a fantastical and mysterious adventure featuring ghosts, a magical pearl, and a suspiciously nosy black cat named Kiriko. In 2022, it won the prestigious Mildred L. Batchelder Award, the Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year, the 2022 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, and was a July/August 2021 Kids’ Indie Next Pick and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. We are about to release the paperback version in May!
Name a few of your favorite backlist titles that people should check out.
- It’s OK, Slow Lizard: A delight-filled picture book perfect for bedtime, where animals—and, we hope, children too!—discover the advantages and joys of living slowly.
- My Life at the Bottom: The Story of a Lonesome Axolotl: An easy crowd favorite, not least because it features an adorable albino axolotl with a scarlet fringe who finds trashy treasures dropped into his lake by the environment-destroying big lugs above, and eventually, a partner.
- Noor and Bobby: While this picture book tells the simple story of a boy looking for his neighbor’s dog, the backdrop is a neighborhood destroyed by war that everyone is busy leaving.
- The Casket of Time: With time-travel, mythology, and environmentalism at its core, this book is an unsung treasure for middle-grade readers.
- The Wild Book: A book that bites and flies, and a library full of supernatural books? Kids will definitely want to learn more about the ever-elusive, never-before-read Wild Book!
- Rat Rule 79: So beautifully written, parents will want to snatch the book from their child’s hand and read it themselves.
What else would you like to tell us about your house and the amazing work you all do?
We have a lot of exciting things in store for the next two years! Here’s the inside scoop on what’s to come:
- A lush, intriguing picture book—and our third from Swedish author-illustrator, Linda Bondestam—about aliens, as seen from a small person’s telescope
- Our third book with Sachiko Kashiwaba and Avery Fischer Udagawa, and a staple of Japanese children’s literature for decades; it was famously the inspiration for one of Studio Ghibli’s greatest films, until now not available in English
- Our first-ever English original picture book about a truck driver and a moose that is more colorful than one could imagine
- And so many more wonderful books to come from around the globe!
Thank you, Restless Books/Yonder!
