Long Way Down - Quick Picks

 








Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a novel written free verse about fifteen year old Will growing up in a violent neighborhood.  Will is dealing with witnessing the death of his older brother who was shot and killed by a gang member.  Will decides it is his job to avenge his brothers death  when he finds a gun in his brotherś dresser.  He sets off to go kill the gang member he believes killed his brother.  However, while in the elevator he is vistited by ghosts that cause him to question the idea of revenge killing.  His first visitor is Buck, his street mentor, who tells him he doesn´t have it in him to kill someone.  Buck is the person who gave his brother Shawn the gun.  The next visitor is Dani, Will´s childhood crush, who died as a child in a drive-by shooting.  She poses the question, ¨What if you miss?¨  Next is Uncle Mark, whom forces him to consider the long term consequences of his decision and to think about how what it would look like and feel like to shoot another person.  The last visitor is Shawn.  He doesn´t speak to Will, but instead cries.  The elevator stops and Shawn asks, ¨Are you coming?" The story ends wondering if Will decided to follow the rules or make a different choice.

Reynolds, J. (2021). Long way down. Faber & Faber Children's.


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