Jacaranda buys second book from ex-beekeeper De Boer

Jacaranda will publish the second book from climate activist Jess de Boer.  

A beekeeper-turned-farmer, De Boer’s Sister Nature, was acquired by Jazzmine Breary, chief operating officer of Jacaranda Books, slated for publication in June 2023. Breary bought world rights excluding Africa directly from the author. The synopsis reads: “From honey hunting in the last remaining pockets of rainforest in southern Ethiopia, to gardening in the depths of Kenya’s largest slum — and more, this is an adventure into restorative action. Confronting the challenges of our stagnant education systems, unsustainable food production techniques and the growing disconnect of our youth with the natural world, de Boer merges fact and science with hard-won wisdom in this inspiring and accessible tale of proactivity and hope.”  

De Boer is a farmer, beekeeper and “lifelong student of the soil”, the publisher said. A Kenyan citizen of Dutch descent born and raised in Nairobi, she has spent the last decade working across the East and Horn of Africa and is dedicated to shaping the development of a regenerative African story.  

She said: “The challenge of our generation is regeneration — and Sister Nature, is a uniquely African story of how. Dismantling the challenges of our current disconnect with the natural world, this story speaks of a global effort busily fusing mankind’s creativity with nature’s genius in the epic redesign of a new tomorrow. Tirelessly tweaked by the Jacaranda press team, who share in this vision for the highest possibilities of human presence on our planet." 

Breary said: “Since publishing Jess de Boer’s memoir The Elephant and the Bee in 2016, Jess de Boer has become one of my favourite people in the world. I am so excited to be working with her again: she is as inspirational as she is passionate, a true champion for the environment, and an example of how we can learn to live alongside nature in a relationship of mutual respect and sisterhood.”