As a kid growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, Jason Reynolds thought books were boring. Nothing he read really spoke to him until he heard Queen Latifah’s 1993 album “Black Reign.”
He started reading the lyrics on the inside of the plastic CD cover, and everything changed.
“Rap music was a savior to me,” says Reynolds, 33.
“I remember reading those lyrics over and over and falling in love with [them]. They were a form of poetry, and this music was as eloquent as some of the people we were reading in school. That was my entree into poetry.”
Reynolds is now an award-winning YA author who has published eight novels (including “All American Boys” and “When I Was the Greatest”) in less than three years.
His newest book, “Long Way Down,” is a powerful, fast-paced novel told through poetry.
The action in the book takes place in 60 seconds — the time it takes for a teenage boy to decide whether or not to seek revenge against his brother’s killer.
“I’m writing all the books I wish I had when I was a kid. I’m making sure the young kids of color today will be able to say, ‘There is documentation of my life, a fair and balanced view of a kid like me,’ ” says Reynolds, who travels 100 days a year to give talks at schools.
“When I go to the schools, they invite me to talk about literacy. And I think that’s a terrible idea,” he says. “I go to the school and I laugh and joke about me and my friends growing up . . . and at the very end, I tell them. ‘This is my story. This is how I went from being a kid who didn’t read to one who writes books. But it’s more important for you to love your own story.’ ”
YA novels often tackle very serious topics these days, from police brutality to neighborhood violence, death, sickness and loss.
That’s simply a real reflection of our times, Reynolds says.
“It’s naive of adults to believe that young people aren’t aware of what is going on in the world. The best thing we can do is confront that to help them navigate it. We can help them say, ‘These things are happening. What does that mean for your life?’ What do we do to make sure they feel comfortable with this world they’ll inherit?”