Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds

Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds, is a story about a teenager named Will and he lives in a place with ruff conditions. He lives in a town with street violence, gangs and drugs. Will lives with his mom and his older brother Sean. His father was killed due to gang violence. Will looks up to his older brother who teaches him these rules to follow when someone close to you is killed. One day Sean is shot and Will makes it his mission to avenge his brother and kill the murderer. Will takes Sean's gun and goes to the building where he thinks the murderer lives. While going up the elevator he is encountered by seven loved ones spirits who have been hurt by violence.. All of them tell Will how they died and they ask him why he is doing what he is doing.As will gets closer to his destination he starts to question his choice.

I thought that Long way down was a good poem that really made me connect to the characters. I am aware of how things are in the ruff parts of town and what happens and I think that this story did a good job spreading the word. I think that it was a good way of explaining how actions had leading consequences. Whether there with other people some things can have a chain of consequences. i found it clever that every floor in the elevator had a person that Will new personally that died. My only problem with it was that I questioned if things were real or not. Over all I enjoyed the book and recommend it to young teens.

Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 10

Montrose Library