On Amazon.com many author biographies are quite pedestrian, Jason Reynolds’ biographical statement is not, and it is quite poignant. Early on the biography states: “What Jason knows is that there are a lot -- A LOT -- of people, young, old, and in-between, who hate reading. He knows that many of these book haters are boys. He knows that many of these book-hating boys, don't actually hate books, they hate boredom.” Last week I promised to write about Jason Reynolds. In part, the promise was to remind me that I need to post every week. So here we go.
Jason Reynolds is a remarkable young writer who is constantly interesting. Upon the recommendation of Jacqueline Woodson I began to explore Jason’s presence on the web. His webpage is fantastic. When I first had a brief conversation with Jason, I remarked on how much I liked its presentation before I talked about his fiction. As you visit the site, you quickly discover that he is a talented artist in the broad scope of the word. He writes, he takes pictures, he blogs, and it becomes clear he is fully engaged in the world around him. Charise Wallace, in an article on Afro.com, shows that while Reynolds acknowledges he “didn’t read any books until [he] was 17 years old…” he is doing his best to move kids past boredom.
I wish I knew people who lived in Albany, I don’t think I do, but I can assure you that I will encourage anyone I know in the area to look for this event that features Jason:
Jason Reynolds, young adult novelist and poet
November 17 (Tuesday)
Reading — 7:00 p.m., Huxley Theatre, NYS Museum, Cultural Education Center, downtown Albany
His visit will be part of the New York State Writers Institute. The event is co-sponsored by Albany High School and I hope all of the students attend. It will be worth their time.
Jason Reynolds, young adult novelist and poet
November 17 (Tuesday)
Reading — 7:00 p.m., Huxley Theatre, NYS Museum, Cultural Education Center, downtown Albany
His visit will be part of the New York State Writers Institute. The event is co-sponsored by Albany High School and I hope all of the students attend. It will be worth their time.
While looking up current reviews of Jason’s books, I ran across another important reason to pay attention to books about diverse characters by diverse characters. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (the Library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) has not only picked Jason’s The Boy in the Black Suit as its current book of the week, but it also posted the CCBC Multicultural Statistics for 2015 on their blog http://ccblogc.blogspot.com/. Based on about 2,000 books, only 90 have been written by diverse authors. Not quite 5%, several more are about diverse characters, but not over 10%. The year isn't over yet, but I'll bet we won't reach a satisfactory balance. There is still a lamentable lack of diverse books by and about a vast number of students that walk through the doors of our public schools every day. I think we have plenty of windows to the world. Let’s focus on mirrors. Let’s support diverse books; clearly we still need them.
Frankly, there won’t be more diverse books if we, academics, teachers, librarians, parents, and readers don’t buy a few. School and public libraries should have an ample supply of diverse books, but 8 months ago I did find any of Jason’s books at the local library. He is easier to find now, but his books should be everywhere. If you want to help remedy the lack of diverse books, go buy one and today I am recommending one of Jason’s. Any of the books would be fine and rewarding. I could review them, but in this instance I am going to rely on the expertise and comments of others.
 First, Len Vlahos reviews a collaborative effort by Jason Reynolds and Brandon Kelly, All American Boys. Vlahos reminds us of the need for a conversation about boys and police in American (Of course, this is a topic for another post.). Thanks Len, I can't wait to dive into this one. |  |
Second, for a brief review of another Reynolds’ novel, The Boy in the Black Suit, I return to the posting of CCBC. This is a tremendous novel of grief and recovery. I liked this book as much as I have liked any book in the last couple of years. It is a subtle and powerful narrative of an adolescent’s journey through the loss of a parent. Okay, so, I couldn’t resist a comment. For more information you should check out this interview with Jason about confronting grief in YA Literature on Gawker Review of Books.
Your third option is When I was the Greatest. For this novel, Jason Reynolds won the John Steptoe New Talent award . One of the best reviews of this book is a video posted on youtube by Tyrin Another good book review for this novel is posted on Laura Book Review. This is a week where is is obvious that I need to thank all of the other people who have taken the time to think about Jason's book. I have made it a team effort and I hope you browse through the various websites I have linked to in this blog posting.
I hope it is apparent that positive reviews of Jason’s books are everywhere. In addition, it is obvious that Jason is making the rounds at conferences, book fairs, and public readings in libraries and schools. If you don’t know his work you should remedy the situation immediately. Read one of this books and try to find a place where is will be doing a reading. I will let Jason have the final say about the need for diverse work. After listening to him for a couple of minutes I think you will be convinced, as I am, that Jason is one of the most important new voices in diverse YA literature.
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