Long Way Down

By: Jason Reynolds

Narrated by: Jason Reynolds

Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2019

And then there were shots....

Everybody ran, ducked, hid, tucked themselves tight. Pressed our lips to the pavement and prayed the boom, followed by the buzz of a bullet, didn't meet us.

After Will's brother is shot in a gang crime, he knows the next steps. Don't cry. Don't snitch. Get revenge. So he gets in the lift with Shawn's gun, determined to follow The Rules. Only when the lift door opens, Buck walks in, Will's friend who died years ago. And Dani, who was shot years before that.

As more people from his past arrive, Will has to ask himself if he really knows what he's doing. This haunting, lyrical, powerful verse novel will blow you away.

©2019 Jason Reynolds (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

The Narration Adds So Much

I've already read the paperback, but Reynolds' voice created so much more depth and atmosphere. He became the characters, it was almost like uncovering an entire new layer to the story and especially to the protagonist Will. As he said in the interview, any other interpretation couldn't have possibly captured the intended tone as well.

Such a wonderful read.

The story was so moving, I recommend everyone read this amazing book by Jason Reynolds.

A return to the Top

I didn’t want to get off the elevator but ride it over and over again. I wanted to smell the the stifling smoke and learn more about the trauma the trauma filling the elevator. There was so much thought, so much insight in such a compact amount of time. Every anagram shifted the heart toward a new emotion. To the floor I will return and let the story become gravity.

Powerful

This should be required reading for every high school reader. For myself, it was a reminder of the white privilege I enjoy everyday.

It put me Ina visual state

it rem8nded me of friends and family who have passed and who they may have seen on the way out.