Long Way Down

De: Jason Reynolds

Narrado por: Jason Reynolds

“An intense snapshot of the chain reaction caused by pulling a trigger.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Astonishing.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A tour de force.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A Newbery Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Honor Book
A Printz Honor Book
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award
An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction
Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017
A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017
A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017

An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds’s electrifying novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.

A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he?

As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator?

Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.

And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if Will gets off that elevator.

Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.

not to be missed

Much of the power in this poetry lies in the emotional and beautiful narration by the author himself.

great for YA or Book Clubs

Narrated by the author, which I loved. Written in prose, which is cool. Interview with author at the end is helpful!

great story

.took me a second to understand the end. but the story was powerful. I believe YA should be aware of this book. especially black urban youth

Beautiful!

I loved, loved, loved this book. Haunting and creepy, Reynolds tells a complex story in a short time.

Haunting and beautiful

Jason Reynolds is a powerful writer, and hearing him read his own work is a treat. The premise of this story is creative and unexpected. It is poetry in the truest sense of the word.

We should all have and take advantage of the opportunities to glimpse lives different from our own. This book helps to make me a bit more aware of my own misunderstandings and prejudices, and I hope, more empathetic and accepting.

Thank you, Mr. Reynolds.

A Long Way Down

Jason Reynolds has a great narrating voice. His writing has such poetic flow like a good poetry slam. Each character has such personality. How can such a dire story be so entertaining?

Wow

Great story and even better narration, definitely recommend, i felt so many emotions while listening, it was a really great experience

The subject hit home for my grandson who is struggling with the murder of his dad, my youngest son.

I truly enjoyed it was written in prose which helped my grandson who like many children struggle with a short attention span. I hope adults read the acknowledgment that discusses understanding young people thinking they honestly believe they are making the right decisions at the time they make it.

Close your eyes and let the lives of others flash before you in the time it takes to ride an elevator.

Well read poetic story about the hard side of life. Jason explains the possible consequences of acting on “the rules” of revenge and how this can set generations of people up for a cycle of loss. He masterfully weaves real life stories of family and friends together to explain events without judgement or preaching. Instead he lets his characters speak about their lives and what led to their deaths in some cases. He is adept at bringing his readers along with him to step into the lives of others as though they are part of the family. Readers feel what his characters were contemplating as though the conflicting decisions were their own. Bravo!

Great quick listen

Wow. I am pleasantly surprised. I didn’t expect much with the story written in poetry.
I listened to the audio book which is narrated by the author. I’m so glad he did. The inflection, feelings, and thoughts of the book are carried through his narration.
The story takes place on the elevator, with each character a person from Will’s life.
Worth the read.