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A review by michellewords
Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
4.0
This is my second Jason Reynolds book. He's definitely my favorite discovery during this pandemic.
I actually picked up this book for my daughter. I assumed it would be a comic book and it definitely was a young adult chapter book. I really enjoyed the last book I read by Reynolds and I'm a superhero fan, so I thought I would give it a chance.
In this book, Miles is having a rough time at Brooklyn Visions Academy. His spider-sense is all messed up, he keeps having these crazy dreams, he keeps messing up when trying to talk with this girl he likes, and his history teacher is low-key racist and maybe has it in for him. Miles puts away the spidey-suit for a little bit to focus and push away the crazy spiderman stuff. Except he receives this letter at school from a juvenile detention center that opens up something a lot bigger than Visions Academy.
It's not the typical spiderman vs super villain story we know. Reynolds mixes in history with the present including racism, family pressure, and self-identification.
I would like to straight up thank Jason Reynolds for his voice and his writing. He deserves all the hype. I read a lot of books-a lot of books by white authors. It's not intentional but I also wouldn't say it's unintentional. I've become a little too habitual with the authors voices I listen to.
I love Reynolds narrative style and his characters. They have little quirks that make them so familiar and relatable even as a 33 year old white mom in suburban Utah.
This book would be worth a long, hard look. It's clear that there is real purpose there. At the way we cling to history and it's leaders (*cough* confederate statues, presidents, etc). What we look to, we can duplicate in the present. I DO NOT want to duplicate racist jerks into the world I live in.
I think that's what I have always loved about the character of Miles Morales. He has so much more heart than the spidermen from my childhood. So Reynolds writing as Morales makes perfect sense.
I'm super glad I read this book and I do recommend it. It's not heavy handed, but it can provoke some thought provoking conversations.
I actually picked up this book for my daughter. I assumed it would be a comic book and it definitely was a young adult chapter book. I really enjoyed the last book I read by Reynolds and I'm a superhero fan, so I thought I would give it a chance.
In this book, Miles is having a rough time at Brooklyn Visions Academy. His spider-sense is all messed up, he keeps having these crazy dreams, he keeps messing up when trying to talk with this girl he likes, and his history teacher is low-key racist and maybe has it in for him. Miles puts away the spidey-suit for a little bit to focus and push away the crazy spiderman stuff. Except he receives this letter at school from a juvenile detention center that opens up something a lot bigger than Visions Academy.
It's not the typical spiderman vs super villain story we know. Reynolds mixes in history with the present including racism, family pressure, and self-identification.
I would like to straight up thank Jason Reynolds for his voice and his writing. He deserves all the hype. I read a lot of books-a lot of books by white authors. It's not intentional but I also wouldn't say it's unintentional. I've become a little too habitual with the authors voices I listen to.
I love Reynolds narrative style and his characters. They have little quirks that make them so familiar and relatable even as a 33 year old white mom in suburban Utah.
This book would be worth a long, hard look. It's clear that there is real purpose there. At the way we cling to history and it's leaders (*cough* confederate statues, presidents, etc). What we look to, we can duplicate in the present. I DO NOT want to duplicate racist jerks into the world I live in.
I think that's what I have always loved about the character of Miles Morales. He has so much more heart than the spidermen from my childhood. So Reynolds writing as Morales makes perfect sense.
I'm super glad I read this book and I do recommend it. It's not heavy handed, but it can provoke some thought provoking conversations.