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A review by jecoats
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
5.0
As with so many of the trade books I have read this term, Long Way Down was recommended to me by my colleague at Mather High School (she has excellent taste in literature). She loaned me her copy of Long Way Down, which has won and been nominated for many awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature (2017), the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult (2018), the Flicker Tale Children's Book Award for Young Adult (2019), and many others.
After the murder of his brother, Shawn, 15-year-old Will must follow three simple rules:
1 - Don't Cry
2 - Don't Snitch
3 - Get Revenge
Thinking he knows who gunned Shawn down, Will sets off from his apartment, with Shawn's gun tucked into the waist band of his jeans, ready to find and kill Shawn's murderer. But while Will rides the elevator down from his 7th floor apartment building, other visitors ride the lift with him. What should be a quick trip down to the lobby ends up becoming a harrowing nightmare for young Will.
To say anything more about the plot would be downright appalling of me to do as this is a novel told in verse that is meant to be experienced by the reader, not summarized for them. I'll start by saying I highly, highly recommend this title as it functions as powerful poetry, an engrossing story, and a daring piece of literature that can be used in the classroom for 6th grade students and up. Personally, I was hooked from the opening stanza, and every page contains lines of well-crafted verse that, at times, shook me to the core. Author Jason Reynolds offers the reader no solace or reprieve here as he depicts Will's six flight ride down the elevator. This book is all fangs and broken hearts, and Reynolds offers the reader an honest but turbulent depiction of sadness, despair, and the cost of revenge.
As a side note - I also read the graphic novel version of this book, and I think both versions are equally impactful. The artwork by Danica Novgorodoff is beautiful and haunting, and I think it captures the raw essence of Reynolds's story. I think the images have weight, and carry an impact not often found in graphic novels. With that said, I think the novel-in-verse allows the reader to really imagine each scene, which is quite easy to do as Reynolds uses his poetry to create vivid imagery in the mind of the reader. I personally think the two versions should be taught together - the graphic novel would make for wonderful scaffolding and differentiation.
Now, I'm not sure how Long Way Down holds up as poetry when seen through the lens of our textbook. The textbook doesn't seem to consider poetry for secondary students when describing poetic elements. There is even a subsection on page 162 that suggests that poetry should have a "positive spirit" and that a poem's relevance is not essential. Now, while I am not suggesting all literature needs to have immediate and timely relevance, the literature we select for our classrooms should be relevant to our students lives. If it is not, I would question why an irrelevant text is being selected for classroom use. (And please take what I say here with a grain of salt. I am approaching this critique from the perspective of a high school educator. I am also aware that various districts and schools have a body of literature they want teachers to use in the classroom, and that we do not always have a say in what materials we present our students.)
However, the textbook does offer some qualities of poetry I think this book possesses. Page 140 states that poetry is a language form that communicates intense feelings, vivid imagery, and can "name things that people have felt but could not name." I would argue that Long Way Down contains all these qualities. The book is certainly filled with intense feelings. From the opening to the closing page, we are made very aware of how Will feels at every step of his journey. As I stated above, Reynolds paints very strong imagery for the reader, making it easy to picture every scene of the book. Reynolds also communicates feelings that I think can be difficult to name or depict. Without giving anything away (or being too graphic) there is a moment when Will wets himself on the elevator. With this very brief, but unbelievably raw scene, Reynolds depicts Will's fear. Reynolds doesn't tell us about Will's emotions - he lets the poetry create the scene to name the "thing" we have all felt, but maybe couldn't have named ourselves.
This book is very much a mirror - but a selective mirror. Not all (or any) of our students will have the same lived experience that Will does. Some may...or may know of someone who does...and for those students, I think this book serves as a way of providing some sort of comfort. Said another way, this book is proof for those students that they are not alone in their experiences, and that other people see them and understand them. I do think this book could act as a mirror and sliding glass window - but again, it's a selective one. White students should know that the story of Long Way Down is not indicative of the overall Black experience. I say this because I think if utilized the wrong way, it could support biases and stereotypes that students may already have already formed about their Black peers. I think the book might be well suited as a way to discuss the effects that trauma and guilt have on individuals, and what it means for young people (boys specifically) when they have no real emotional support structure and have been told to not cry, even after witnessing the death of a loved one. I think the story would even be a great way to introduce the literary concept of tragedy, as I think this title would certainly qualify as a modern tragedy.
After the murder of his brother, Shawn, 15-year-old Will must follow three simple rules:
1 - Don't Cry
2 - Don't Snitch
3 - Get Revenge
Thinking he knows who gunned Shawn down, Will sets off from his apartment, with Shawn's gun tucked into the waist band of his jeans, ready to find and kill Shawn's murderer. But while Will rides the elevator down from his 7th floor apartment building, other visitors ride the lift with him. What should be a quick trip down to the lobby ends up becoming a harrowing nightmare for young Will.
To say anything more about the plot would be downright appalling of me to do as this is a novel told in verse that is meant to be experienced by the reader, not summarized for them. I'll start by saying I highly, highly recommend this title as it functions as powerful poetry, an engrossing story, and a daring piece of literature that can be used in the classroom for 6th grade students and up. Personally, I was hooked from the opening stanza, and every page contains lines of well-crafted verse that, at times, shook me to the core. Author Jason Reynolds offers the reader no solace or reprieve here as he depicts Will's six flight ride down the elevator. This book is all fangs and broken hearts, and Reynolds offers the reader an honest but turbulent depiction of sadness, despair, and the cost of revenge.
As a side note - I also read the graphic novel version of this book, and I think both versions are equally impactful. The artwork by Danica Novgorodoff is beautiful and haunting, and I think it captures the raw essence of Reynolds's story. I think the images have weight, and carry an impact not often found in graphic novels. With that said, I think the novel-in-verse allows the reader to really imagine each scene, which is quite easy to do as Reynolds uses his poetry to create vivid imagery in the mind of the reader. I personally think the two versions should be taught together - the graphic novel would make for wonderful scaffolding and differentiation.
Now, I'm not sure how Long Way Down holds up as poetry when seen through the lens of our textbook. The textbook doesn't seem to consider poetry for secondary students when describing poetic elements. There is even a subsection on page 162 that suggests that poetry should have a "positive spirit" and that a poem's relevance is not essential. Now, while I am not suggesting all literature needs to have immediate and timely relevance, the literature we select for our classrooms should be relevant to our students lives. If it is not, I would question why an irrelevant text is being selected for classroom use. (And please take what I say here with a grain of salt. I am approaching this critique from the perspective of a high school educator. I am also aware that various districts and schools have a body of literature they want teachers to use in the classroom, and that we do not always have a say in what materials we present our students.)
However, the textbook does offer some qualities of poetry I think this book possesses. Page 140 states that poetry is a language form that communicates intense feelings, vivid imagery, and can "name things that people have felt but could not name." I would argue that Long Way Down contains all these qualities. The book is certainly filled with intense feelings. From the opening to the closing page, we are made very aware of how Will feels at every step of his journey. As I stated above, Reynolds paints very strong imagery for the reader, making it easy to picture every scene of the book. Reynolds also communicates feelings that I think can be difficult to name or depict. Without giving anything away (or being too graphic) there is a moment when Will wets himself on the elevator. With this very brief, but unbelievably raw scene, Reynolds depicts Will's fear. Reynolds doesn't tell us about Will's emotions - he lets the poetry create the scene to name the "thing" we have all felt, but maybe couldn't have named ourselves.
This book is very much a mirror - but a selective mirror. Not all (or any) of our students will have the same lived experience that Will does. Some may...or may know of someone who does...and for those students, I think this book serves as a way of providing some sort of comfort. Said another way, this book is proof for those students that they are not alone in their experiences, and that other people see them and understand them. I do think this book could act as a mirror and sliding glass window - but again, it's a selective one. White students should know that the story of Long Way Down is not indicative of the overall Black experience. I say this because I think if utilized the wrong way, it could support biases and stereotypes that students may already have already formed about their Black peers. I think the book might be well suited as a way to discuss the effects that trauma and guilt have on individuals, and what it means for young people (boys specifically) when they have no real emotional support structure and have been told to not cry, even after witnessing the death of a loved one. I think the story would even be a great way to introduce the literary concept of tragedy, as I think this title would certainly qualify as a modern tragedy.