Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds

 


Coretta Scott King Award 

A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE 

Oh boy, this one is deep. For something so short, there's a lot of content to unpack. Jason Reynolds is always a great read; his passion comes through the lyrical format that is only ever present in novels written in verse. I love how this book unpacks the true impact of gun violence in an interesting way. I also have theories about how all the people in the elevator were killed by the same gun, which is such an interesting way to think about it. I also love how each time we go to a different floor, we learn more about the impact that gun violence has based on the impact that it has on Will. Even the character that he doesn't know first hand, his death is exactly what caused Will's brother Shawn to be killed. Also, the development that his father had died because he had killed the wrong man. It's direct foreshadowing to what is about to happen to Will. The whole plot is so well structured that it caused the audience to first feel sympathy to Will, then side with him, then we're left in the same position of whether revenge is worth the risk. And the language that Reynolds uses through out the book is a perfect mixture of poetic and serious. Overall, this book was fantastic. I can tell, that despite how short it is, that this book is going to stick with me over the years, especially due to the major events that are occurring currently in the United States involving gun violence. ★★★★★

As far as using this book for students, there's so many options that could be done with this. In my school, our English 2 teachers use this book as a way to teach both poetry and narrative structure. There's also a good amount of slang that is used in this book, so it pairs well with discussions about the development of language. Then, finally, I would love to use this as a book club book. There's so much to unpack here and any student that was born after 1999 (which is most of them, me included), the is a level of relatability due to current events and the history that the United States has had with gun violence, especially towards minors. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bittersweet in the Hollow - Kate Pearsall

Image
  Free Choice Last, but not least. I love that there has been a recent obsession with "Appalachian Horror," and this book fits right in. Since this was the last book that we had to read, I was hoping this one would blow me away, but I think it's plot is a little weak and takes too long to build. I do love the idea of a modern witch story. It's something that I've been really looking for since the rise of Harry Potter , but everything feels too edgy or is just a story about witches and it takes place in modern day. I think this book does a good job of landing in the middle, kind of like the movie Hocus Pocus.  I also love the use of their "powers." It's such a weird idea that the protagonist can "taste what others are feeling." Just that as an idea is weird enough to keep me interested. I just feel that the author was trying to include too much in the novel and it really bogged down the plot.  I think this holds a lot of relevancy among YA r...
Read more

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson

Image
Book v Movie/TV Okay, this is where I get to be the cynical old guy in the room. I thought this book was okay. When I first looked into it, I was blind-sided by how popular this series is. And after reading it, I thought it was okay. To me, there's been more compelling mystery novels, and I just couldn't bring myself to be as interested in this one. Then, when I watched the first episode of the Netflix series, I found myself checking my phone often. I think that the popularity of series like Euphoria  has affected teen drama shows in a very negative way. From what I watched, it felt faithful to the series. But I don't see myself finishing the book series or the Netflix show on my own. It could also be that I was never very interested in shows/books like this when I was a teenager.   I think that the relevancy to teens with this series has been part of a an ongoing trend now for a few years. There's a lot of drama/mystery shows targeted towards young adults and many of t...
Read more

Star Splitter - Patrick J. Kirby

Image
  State Book Award With all of the possible professionalism that I can muster, I am only able to truly articulate my feelings on this book in one way: This book f**king sucks. That may seem like an extreme reaction, but I have not read a book in a while that sets itself up for a literary “slam-dunk,” just to drop the ball and land flat on its face. The concept alone is enough to keep the reader’s attention through the novel, but it never does anything truly interesting or meaningful after the initial concept is explained. The plot is kickstarted by the idea that we have figured out how to “teleport,” but teleportation in this version of the future involves, essentially, 3D printing another body, and having your previous body destroyed. Then your downloaded conscience would then be uploaded to your brain so you would retain any memories that you had, up to that point. The problem lies in the fact that the author has introduced an insanely intriguing premise where the protagonist of ...
Read more