Citation
Reynolds, J. (2017). Long way down. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Description
An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds’s fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.
A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE
Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.
And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator.
Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.
Realistic Fiction, Novels in Verse
Scholarly Review
Gr 8 Up--Fifteen-year-old Will's big brother has been shot and killed. According to the rules that Will has been taught, it is now his job to kill the person responsible. He easily finds his brother's gun and gets on the elevator to head down from his eighth-floor apartment. But it's a long way down to the ground floor. At each floor, a different person gets on to tell a story. Each of these people is already dead. As they relate their tales, readers learn about the cycle of violence in which Will is caught up. The protagonist faces a difficult choice, one that is a reality for many young people. Teens are left with an unresolved ending that goes beyond the simple question of whether Will will seek revenge. Told in verse, this title is fabulistic in its simplicity and begs to be discussed. Its hook makes for an excellent booktalk. It will pair well with Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give and Reynolds's previous works. The unique narrative structure also makes it an excellent read-alike for Walter Dean Myers's Monster. VERDICT This powerful work is an important addition to any collection.--Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH
Anderson, K. (2017, July). Reynolds, Jason. Long Way Down. School Library Journal, 63(7), 94. Retrieved March 22, 2018 from Book Review Index.
My Analysis
This novel, written in verse, is incredibly powerful. There are rules in Will’s neighborhood, and they must be followed, even when Will’s brother, Shawn, is shot and killed. When Will finds his brother’s gun in their bedroom, he decides to get revenge on Shawn’s murderer, and he thinks he knows who committed the crime. Will is on his way to exact revenge, but he is interrupted on the elevator by a few visitors as he travels to the main floor of the building. These visitors are ghosts of past shootings, and each visitor is connected to Will in some way. They question Will and challenge his motives for revenge, taking only seven floors and 60 seconds to get to him. Will learns that the rules from his neighborhood have only contributed to gun violence and that these rules and his actions have consequences. Will Will decide to continue the cycle or will he break the rules? Jason Reynolds’ stunning writing depicts the horrific reality of gun violence and the aftermath.
Hashtags
#endhate
#stoptheviolence
#powerofverse
Usage
This would be an excellent novel to use in tandem with The Hate U Give for a current issues or special topic book read/club, either in a school or public library. Gun violence is an increasing epidemic, and discussing these books with readers of all ages and ethnicities will allow readers realistic insight into the world of gun violence and ways we can help prevent it and how we can support each other.
Awards
A Newbery Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Honor Book
A Printz Honor Book
Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award
Censorship
None
References
Anderson, K. (2017, July). Reynolds, Jason. Long Way Down. School Library Journal, 63(7), 94. Retrieved March 22, 2018 from Book Review Index.
Simon & Schuster. (n.d.). Long way down details. Retrieved from
