Our author for this fourth Friday Focus is a TMS favorite, Jason Reynolds! Jason Reynolds hit the YA world in 2014 with his YA debut, When I was the Greatest, for which he won the Coretta Scott King/ John Steptoe Award for New Talent. In the six years since, he has published fourteen books for middle grade and young adult audiences! And most of the books have won some sort of award! Not only is he busy writing, he is now our U.S. Ambassador for Children's Literature and before Covid19 hit, was traveling around the country connecting kids to books and reading. I've had the privilege of meeting him and listening to him speak. Not only is he is a phenomenal talent, his respect for young people is real.
Or, subscribe to his "Grab the Mic" newsletter. Follow him on Twitter (@JasonReynolds83) and/ or Instagram (JasonReynolds83).
Mini Book Talks
When I Was the Greatest (YA) was Reynolds' YA debut. It published in 2014. The author was given the Coretta Scott King/ John Steptoe New Talent Award. It is set in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and centers around to sets of brothers who are best friends. Ali and his brother have a stable life with parents who care for them. Noodles and his brother, Needles do not. Their mother is an addict who neglects them. Ali and his parents look out for them though. But then, things go horribly wrong.
The Boy in the Black Suit (YA) published in 2015 and was named a 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book. It is the story of Matt, a grieving seventeen-year-old who wears a black suit everywhere not because he's grieving the death of him mother (though he is), but because he works for the local funeral parlor. He needs the money to help his alcoholic father, who's having a hard time holding things together.
All American Boys (YA) co-written with Brendan Kiely was also released in 2015. This book won a 2016 Coretta Scott Author Honor for both authors. Jason Reynolds gave two separate speeches at the Coretta Scott King Breakfast that year. It also won the Walter Dean Myers Award. This intense dual narrative switches between Rashad, a senior and basketball player, who enters a convenience store to buy a bag of chips but finds himself beaten bloody by a white police officer who assumes he had been shoplifting. The other POV is Quinn, a white classmate and teammate of Rashad's. Quinn admires the officer who has been like a father to him ever since Quinn's father died while serving in Iraq.
As Brave as You (MG) was published in 2016 and sports three medals: The Kirkus Prize, a Schneider Family Book Award, which is given to a book that positively portrays a character with disabilities, and the 2017 NAACP Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/ Teen. In case you are counting that's seven awards for his first four books.
As Brave as You is the story of two brothers, Genie and Ernie, who leave their Brooklyn neighborhood for the very first time to travel all the way to rural Virginia to spend the summer with their grandfather. When they arrive, it takes them a while to figure out that he is blind! He hides it so well! This gentle exploration of courage will stick with you.
Ghost (MG) is book one of The Track series. Ghost published in 2016 as well and was named a National Book Award Finalist. Ghost is Castle Crenshaw's nickname. He's a mad-fast runner. He's also one angry kid. You would be too if your dad was in prison for pulling a gun and threatening to kill you and your mom. Ghost joins an elite track team and hopes to hone his speed and let go of his anger with the help of Coach.
Patina (MG) was published in 2017 and is Reynolds' first book with a female main character. Like Ghost, Patty is a fast runner as well as running from some tough problems at home. Her father died and her mother is seriously ill with diabetes. Patty and her sister are living with their aunt and uncle. She attends a private school where she is nearly the only Black student. She's buttoned up tightly and doesn't want anyone in her business, so she's a bit dismayed when Coach assigns her to relay, where it's all about teamwork and cooperation.
Miles Morales: Spiderman (MG) was also published in 2017. This entry in the Marvel franchise depicts a young Spiderman as an Afro-Puerto Rican teen living in Brooklyn. He has it pretty good, two involved parents, a best friend who's as into vintage video games as he is, a scholarship to a prestigious prep school nearby and even a crush on a brainy classmate. He also has a secret. He's Spiderman. Click here to view a trailer where Jason Reynolds talks about the book!
2017 also brought Long Way Down (YA) into the world. This provocative verse novel takes place in about a minute as a grief-stricken teen travels from his apartment to the lobby in an elevator packing his dead brother's gun and intent on revenge. You might notice four shiny stickers on this one. Long Way Down won a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor and his second Walter Dean Myers Award, which is given by the We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) organization. Click here to view him talking about Long Way Down at the Kennedy Center.
2018 also brought three new books. For Every One (YA) is a work of poetry that Reynolds performed at the Kennedy Center.
Sunny, the third installment of the Track series. Sunny lives up to his name, always happy, always chill. But Sunny also hides a secret. He blames himself for his mother's death giving birth to him and thinks his distant father doesn't really like him very much. You might want to read this one with your ears because Guy Lockard does a phenomenal job of bringing his bouncy personality to life.
Lu concludes the Track series. Lu is the co-captain of the defenders and born to lead. The fact that his has albinism doesn't get in the way of his goals - to lead the defenders to the championship. Only, sometimes things get in the way of your dreams and tough decisions have to be made. This book concludes an excellent series. Click here to view a video of Jason Reynolds talking about the series and Lu with PBS.
Look Both Ways is a series of interconnected short stories about ten students as they walk home from school and shake off the events of the day. It was published in 2019 and was a National Book Award Finalist and a Coretta Scott King Author Honor.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You was recently published. This is the only book of the author's I have yet to read. It is near the top of my "to be read" pile. It is an "remix" of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award Winning, Stamped from the Beginning. This is what the publisher promises, "Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas–and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives."
Here's a link to the two authors' interview with Trevor Noah and here's a link to an interview on CBS This Morning.
Thirteen books in less than six years! He has won twelve big awards and earned countless starred reviews and made tons of "Best" lists. He once had three books on the New York Times Bestseller List at the same time! And this gentleman is not yet forty-years-old!
No comments:
Post a Comment