Long Way Down

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Jason’s many works of fiction include When I Was the Greatest, Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave As You, For Every One, Miles Morales: Spider Man, the Run series ( Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), and Long Way Down, which received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor. I downloaded this intending on possibly getting to it sometime, but I opened it up out of curiosity and ended up reading the entire thing in about an hour. She currently teaches 9th grade English, a remedial reading and writing course, and English as a new language to non-native speakers. I did enjoy the way the author narrates the audiobook, but it was too fast for me to get attached to the story or the characters.

Some readers may not like having to do the "work" but when the elevator opens and Shawn asks Will, "Are you coming?When he finally chokes out that after pulling out the gun, he shoots, Uncle Mark asks what happens next. The subject was about revenge and how our main character decides either to do what he is having in mind or not. If the blood/ inside of you is on the inside/ of someone else,/ you never want to/ see it on the outside of/ them.

The story is as gripping and moving as ever, its atmosphere perhaps even more poignant courtesy of Danica Novgorodoff's impactful watercolour illustrations. Not saying that I don't appreciate it, I certainly do, but personally, I'm not able to enjoy it to the full extent I should. Things take a strange turn when on each floor, a murdered soul from Will’s past life enters the elevator, each sharing the story of their death.Told in short, powerful verse, the novel explores the tenacity of the cycle of violence, the pain of toxic masculinity, and the dangers of repressed grief. Spanning a mere one minute and seven seconds, Reynolds' new free-verse novel is an intense snapshot of the chain reaction caused by pulling a trigger. Will describes the "rules" in his neighborhood, where violence is the norm: no crying, no snitching, seek revenge.

Poignant and heart wrenching story written in verse that takes place over 60 seconds in an elevator, exploring the senseless cycle of gun violence, through the eyes of main character Will, whose brother Shawn had just been shot. I don't have too much to say other than I think this is a really effective coming of age story about how violence and toxic masculinity affects so many young black teens. In this all too real portrait of survival , Reynolds goes toe-to-toe with where, or even if, love and choice are allowed to exist. Bronnie is so lovely with the boys and we also felt that having a man enthusing about the books set a great example.But as he takes the elevator down, with a gun tucked in his pants, it stops on each floor and a ghost from Will's past enters, all victims of gun violence, but will that be enough to change his mind ? He also reveals that when he was in a similar situation years ago and tried to take revenge, he killed the wrong person, but still furthered the cycle of violence.

Your words, like your reviews, bring books to life and give them a voice before the front cover is even turned.When Shawn, the beloved big brother of 15-year-old Will, is shot dead, Will is ready to follow "the rules" and get revenge. J'ai quand même bien aimé globalement, le personnage est sympathique et on espère qu'il fera le bon choix.