Last February I read Ghost, the first book in Jason Reynold’s middle grade Track series and enjoyed it immensely though I understood I was definitely not the intended audience. I had seen Jason Reynolds on The Daily Show, started following him on Twitter, and all that made me want to read his work—all of his work. He’s a prolific writer, so catching up and keeping up will take some work. Flash forward to mid-December when I discovered a display of the remaining three books in […]
In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases.
The World According to Garp – 4/5 Stars I am trying to figure out books from the late 1970s and early 1980s, because it’s like the first time that authors really wanted to dig into sexual politics in some ways that are interesting, definitely alarming, but also handled with a kind of lack of care, or certainly a different context. This book was a huge hit when it came out and won several awards. It’s generally very good, but there’s a weird weird weird scene […]
“If blood inside you is on the inside of someone else, you never want to see it outside of them.”
Another brilliant book told in verse (similar to those by Kwame Alexander), Long Way Down takes place in a single elevator ride over 60 seconds. I was doubtful that this could be pulled off successfully, but my god, what Jason Reynolds does here is extraordinarily effective. Will is mourning the sudden shooting death of his brother, Shawn. According to “the rules” of his neighborhood, Will must now plan to take his brother’s gun and shoot the boy who he thinks killed his brother. THE RULES […]
47: An okay emergent YA novel from a great talent.
I greatly enjoy Jason Reynolds’ voice in young adult literature. I think his works are necessary to adding diverse literature for young adult readers, and I have liked his novels to this point. Since I read and LOVED All American Boys and Long Way Down, I think I may have a hard time going back to his first books (case in point: The Boy in the Black Suit was just okay). So I had that in mind when I read When I Was the Greatest, […]