YA Materials, Literature Log, Book #14: Long Way Down
Title: Long Way Down Author: Jason Reynolds Category: Verse Will's beloved older brother Shawn was shot and killed yesterday. The two boys have been close for years, since their dad died, and Will's been on the streets long enough to know how this goes: if your brother gets murdered, you find out who did it and pay back the favor. So Will takes his brother's gun and gets into the elevator from his seventh-floor apartment, certain he knows who did this and that he can do what he has to. Until ghosts begin getting on the elevator with Will, ghosts from his past, from Shawn's past, and they have questions for him. Questions he needs to consider before he gets off this elevator. Wow, this book was moving. I first heard about it several months before taking this course, and it was at the top of my to-read list since, so I'm very glad for the opportunity to finally read it. I found Reynolds' poetry to be well-done, a quick read, and with just the right amount of im...