#jason reynolds
Our 2021 Milwaukee County Teen Book Award winner is Stamped by Dr. Ibram Kendi and Jason Reynolds! This informative non-fiction work is the first non-fiction winner of the Milwaukee County Teen Book Award.
This year’s honors go to, The Assignment by local author Liza Weimer, which was also the winner of the teen vote, as well as, Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo and I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Thank you to everyone who promoted, voted, and participated in MCTBA 2021!
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“I hope you understand that we have the interests of the public to consider with regards to how Ainsville is run, your Highness.”
I should have known it would come to this, that he would make this move. More attempts at convincing me that what he is doing is just. I felt the smile I had been wearing waver, looking down at the glass on my knees, my free hand clutching at the fabric of my dress.
“It’s a little difficult to see it from a public standpoint when I was there, Commander. It’s easy to convince a crowd when they can’t see everything you can.” I turned to face him, “I’m still certain that there has to be another way than this.”
“We’re at war, your Highness. And we don’t want the wars at our borders to grow into a civil war. Sacrifices need to be made.” He said simply, leaning forward on his seat, closer to me.
“I can understand your approach is based on necessity, Commander Reynolds. However, my country is not at war.” I return, raising my glass and taking a tiny sip from the flute.
“One of those people - even Rivera, the girl you met - could kill everyone in this room within the blink of an eye.“ He raised his own glass and gestured around the room, pointing at the various guests stood around mingling and conversing, oblivious to the conversation we were sharing here. “They need to be taught to act in their country’s best interest.”
“I don’t doubt it, but create a system that forces the minority to hate those in power, and you will have a revolution, Commander. I do not want to create a reason for such a revolution”
Here is an amazing piece of art I commissioned from @arrhythmiacomic of a scene me and @cirianne worked together on! A scene from a crossover where Anjelika visits the country Street Magic is set in, and has a conversation with the charasmatic Commander Reynolds XD
Thank you for drawing this for us, and I really hope you like it Sara!
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“[…] perhaps they will learn they need not fear a thing created to love them and for them to love.”
—Jason Reynolds on why poetry might be the answer for children overwhelmed by reading, for PBS NewsHour.
With This Free Short Film, Meet Author, Hero, Super Star: Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds is shaking and shaping the landscape of Young Adult literature. He is talking about real life in a voice that is unlike one that most teens have read before. He is being noticed. He has won numerous awards (John Steptoe New Talent Award, finalist, National Book Award for Young People’s Literature,Walter Dean Myers Award,Coretta Scott King Award honor in 2016, 2017, and 2018, NAAC…
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books I’ve read in 2022 no. 048
Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin
“And I’m sitting here wondering why my mother won’t change the channel and why the news won’t change the story and why the story won’t change into something new instead of the every-hour rerun about how we won’t change the world or the way we treat the world or the way we treat each other.”
Next up, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
“but just remember, when
you’re walking in the nighttime,
make sure the nighttime
ain’t walking into you.”
Year Read:2022
Rating:4/5
About: The night after his brother, Shawn, is murdered, Will steps onto an elevator with a gun tucked into his waistband. Shawn taught him the rules, and they are: no crying, no snitching, get revenge. But when the elevator stops on the sixth floor and a dead man gets on, Will realizes there is more to his brother and their family than he ever knew. On each floor, a ghost connected to Will and Shawn gets on, offering another side to the story, and when they reach the ground, he’ll have to make a decision. Trigger warnings: death, child/sibling/parent death, gun violence, grief.
Thoughts:I’ve had the sneaking suspicion that novels in verse are not really my thing, and this feels like definitive proof. I appreciate them and recognize their value, but I almost never have an emotional connection to them, and the same is true here. I read this in one sitting, even though I knew I should be slowing down to absorb the message, but I’m not sure it would matter. These are heavy concepts that take time and contemplation that such a quick read doesn’t really allow. In a novel, I probably would have been bawling from beginning to end, but as is, I felt held at a distance by the format. But there are all kinds of readers out there, and I’m sure that for some of them, this is exactly the right story told in exactly the right way.
I don’t think there’s a lot of room for character here either, and Will and the ghosts feel more like vehicles for this message than anything–which is fine. It’s a powerful message told in a haunting way, and it’s easy to empathize with their circumstances. It’s utterly odd to have a plot that takes place, mostly, in a matter of minutes, and while I understand the ambiguity of the ending, I prefer more closure. It’s stronger on a thematic level, and there’s so much to unpack there about cycles of violence and what we pass down to younger generations. Probably great for a classroom, especially for readers who struggle to get through longer novels. All personal preferences aside, it’s well worth reading for all the reasons people say it is.
