Long Way Down
Book - 2017
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https://www.elpl.org/blogs/post/post181256/?source=fic
Each year, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) gathers nominations from teen book groups throughout the country and creates a "teen choice list" of books from the previous year. The 2018 Teens Top Ten Voting is now open at DOGObooks and voting continues through Teen Read Week, October 7-13, 2018. Voting is for teens only and you can vote for up to 3 of your favorites. … (more)
From Library Staff
From Library Staff
Reynolds' latest has just been longlisted for the National Book Award. Taking place in the span of just sixty seconds, how long it takes the main character to decide whether or not to kill the man who murdered his brother.
From the critics
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Age
Add Age Suitabilityblue_cheetah_13191 thinks this title is suitable for 12 years and over
Quotes
Add a Quote“AND YOU KNOW
it's weird to know
a person you don't know
and at the same time
not know
a person you know,
you know?”
“ANAGRAM
is when you take a word and rearrange the letters to make another word. And sometimes the words are still somehow connected ex: CANOE = OCEAN. Same letters, different words, somehow still make sense together, like brothers.”
Comment
Add a CommentI literally couldn’t put it down I read in 30 mins. It’s a book where you are like what happened next , who is he about to meet noww. I enjoyed it !
Long Way Down
By Jason Reynolds
The book Long Way Down, is a contemporary young adult story about a kid who faces a conflicting decision after learning about the death of his brother. It's written in poetry format and slowly uncovers the layers of his identity. I really liked this book because it was so fascinating to see how such a sparse amount of words can make such an emotional impact. While poetry most of the time does not go well with me because of its obscure meaning and inability to connect, Mr. Reynolds really did a good job here with using poetry as a good tool. His story, while not a new one, is one that is well done in its genre.
I LOVE Jason Reynolds' Long Way Down novel in verse. The power of this text comes from the rhythm and pace created by free verse narrative. Jason Reynolds masterfully creates a riveting narrative full of emotion and suspense. Excellent.
Written in prose, Long Way Down is a read you can’t put down or stop thinking about. The story takes place in a single elevator ride that determines fifteen year old Will’s future. He lost his brother Shawn through gun violence just the day before and hops on the elevator with the intent of avenging his brother, when he starts to see people of his past join him on the ride each floor he reaches. Throughout the story, I found myself crying for Will and his life experiences, while wondering if he was going to carry out his revenge. I also loved how the writing was written in prose because it allowed the book to shine through with artisticness and let the plot unfold in the perfect way. If you’re looking for a mature, gut-wrenching read, I recommend Long Way Down.
To be honest I was really on the fence about this book. I kind of liked it and at the same time I felt like this story was completely unfinished. If you are the type of person that at the end of a book you like things to be wrapped up, nice and neat and you like when all your questions are answered, THEN THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU! This book had the biggest cliff hanger ending. I believe the author Jason Reynolds wanted readers to come to their own conclusion about how the story would end. I personally hated this! I need all my questions answered or it will literally keep me up at night. In this novel a boy named Will is riding on an elevator, getting ready to shoot the man he thinks is responsible for this brothers death. As he rides the elevator down to where he knows the man is hiding the elevator stops on each floor and a different ghost gets on the elevator. Each ghost is somehow related to Will the main character's past. The ghosts tell Will how they were also gun shot victims the story of their own deaths. I found this book to be really repetitive, which I guess was the point... but I just found it to be boring and predictable. This book is written in short verse, so it was a relatively quick read, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Like I said I like things to have somewhat of an ending and this book ended very much up in the air and as a reader you will receive no answers. I loved the writing style immensely, but I just didn't love the repetitive plot or the ending.
Modern Mrs Darcy
Middle school/teen book
Love the counting down as the elevator lowers for each chapter. Don't let the poetry intimidate you. Read it anyway. Powerful ending. This would make a great "add another chapter for the end" writing activity, as it could go so many ways.
Jason Reynolds nails it. Know someone who thinks reading is boring? This book isn’t. Know someone who thinks poems are for old people? Not this one. Know someone who thinks grownups don’t know anything about the real world? Not this grown-up. Jason Reynolds’ writing changes opinions, minds...and hearts. Spread the word.
After hearing Jason Reynolds speak at a virtual librarian event, I had to check out his writing. This was raw, powerful, and empathetic, the immediacy of verse pairing well with the tight quarters of a potentially life-altering elevator ride. Phenomenal in audio (read by the author himself) and followed up with an equally powerful interview.