Jason Reynolds. S&S/Atheneum, $17.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4424-5950-2
When high school senior Matt realizes that working at the local chicken joint might mean cleaning up vomit, he reluctantly accepts a job at the neighborhood funeral parlor—the same one where his mother’s funeral was just held. To Matt’s surprise, he
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $19.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-6659-6127-1
Reynolds (Long Way Down) astounds in a sweetly hilarious story of two Black teens preparing to take a huge first step in their relationship. Twenty-four seconds before this book’s start, 17-year-old Neon Benton and Aria, his girlfriend of two years,
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds. Atheneum, $14.99 (112p) ISBN 978-1-4814-8624-8
As Reynolds writes in an introductory note: “When I started writing this, I didn’t know what it was.” He goes on to explain that this handsomely presented collection of short, loosely connected poems was first written at a time (in his 20s) when he...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4814-3825-4
Will, 15, is following his neighborhood’s well-established rules—don’t cry, don’t snitch, but do get revenge “if someone you love/ gets killed”—when he leaves his apartment, intent on killing whoever murdered his older brother, Shawn. He’s...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $16.99 (192p) ISBN 978-1-4814-5015-7
Reynolds (As Brave As You) uses a light hand to delve into topics that include gun violence, class disparity, and bullying in this compelling series opener. Seventh-grader Castle Cranshaw, nicknamed Ghost, knows nothing about track when a former...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds. S&S/Atheneum/Dlouhy, $16.99 (432p) ISBN 978-1-4814-1590-3
Reynolds (All American Boys) aims for a younger audience with the story of Genie and Ernie, two Brooklyn boys spending a month with their grandparents in North Hill, Va., while their parents try to mend a frayed marriage. Eleven-year-old Genie is...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. S&S/Atheneum/Dlouhy, $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4814-6333-1
In this painful and all-too-timely book, two authors—one black, one white—present a story of police brutality. Reynolds (The Boy in the Black Suit) voices Rashad, the innocent victim of a police beating; Kiely (The Gospel of Winter) writes Quinn, a...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. Little, Brown, $18.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-316-45369-1
Reynolds (Look Both Ways) lends his signature flair to remixing Kendi’s award-winning Stamped from the Beginning into a powerful “not a history book” primer on the historical roots and present-day manifestations of antiblack racism in America. In...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds, illus. by Alexander Nabaum. Atheneum, $17.99 (208p) ISBN 978-1-4814-3828-5
Reynolds (the Track series) packs the 10 blocks surrounding multiple schools with 10 relatable slice-of-life stories that start after school ends, each beginning with a black-and-white drawing by Nabaum. An overlapping cast of black characters...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds, illus. by Raúl the Third. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $13.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-5344-1816-5
Portico Reeves, secret alter ego Stuntboy, lives amid a lively, largely Black community at “the castle”—apartment building Skylight Gardens. As Portico, he navigates tense interactions with bully Herbert Singletary the Worst, the stress of his ever-f
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $19.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-5344-3946-7
Author Reynolds and artist Griffin, friends and previous collaborators (My Name Is Jason. Mine Too.), explore recent events in America through a poetic multimedia partnership told in three “breaths.” As a journal-like volume opens, a nameless Black...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds, illus. by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $18.99 (56p) ISBN 978-1-5344-3944-3
The creators’ high-stepping testament to the enduring cultural influence of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes (1901–1967) begins with the promise of a party: “a jam in Harlem to celebrate the word-making man.” Rhythmic lines from Newbery...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $19.99 (96p) ISBN 978-1-5344-7822-0
Two best friends and previous collaborators’ (Ain’t Burned All the Bright) diary-style accounting of their years spent living together in New York City is a moving, poetic, and visually rich homage to friendship, perseverance, and growth. “Regular...
READ FULL REVIEW
Jason Reynolds. S&S/Atheneum, $17.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-4424-5947-2
The “greatest” in the title doesn’t just refer to the scene in which 15-year-old Ali defends a friend with Tourette syndrome by throwing a winning punch at a party—it also hints at what an accomplishment Reynolds’s novel is. Set in the non-“Cosby”...
READ FULL REVIEW
Edited by Ibi Zoboi. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0-06-269872-8
This collection of 17 original stories is written by contemporary black authors who explore “teens examining, rebelling against, embracing, or simply existing within their own idea of blackness.” The tales offer a wide array of perspectives and...
READ FULL REVIEW
ARTICLES
