Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

This is a book you can read in just about an hour, but it’s a story that will haunt you for a long time.

Fifteen year old Will is mourning his older brother Shawn, who was gunned down while buying soap for their mother. Will quickly reviews the rules of the streets: he won’t cry, he won’t snitch, but he will get revenge. Will takes his dead brother’s handgun and rides the elevator down to get that revenge.

The elevator stops on each floor all the way down, and at each stop someone from Will’s past -- all of them dead as a result of gun violence -- get on the elevator and tell their story. Perhaps it is Will’s subconscious mind forcing him to reconsider the effects of pulling the trigger in revenge. Perhaps it is a quick review of the gun violence that Will is about to become a part of, potentially ending his own life. Whatever the cause, Will gets stories about gun violence all the way down to the ground floor, where the story ends with two memorable -- and very debatable -- words.

Long Way Down will hook reluctant readers, and is a great choice for lit circles and in-class book clubs as it will prompt quality discussion.

Buy this book for reluctant readers, fans of urban fiction, or African American teen boys who might be struggling to find a familiar voice in YA (if that’s the case, buy all of Jason Reynolds’ books for that teen).