For Every One

Photo credit Simon and Schuster

“This letter

Is being written

From the inside.

From the front line

And the fault line.

From the uncertain thick of it all.”

For Every One by Jason Reynolds is a letter written in verse, and for everyone just like the title says. His letter is filled with encouragement and hope for the future, even if you haven’t quite made it. This letter is for everyone who’s struggling, who’s chasing their dreams, or who feels like giving up, for the young the old and everyone in between. His letter is an inspiration to us all!

Jason Reynolds uses figurative language to describe his dream. “My dream won't stop crying, screaming like a colicky infant. Sometimes I think it needs to be changed. Usually it just needs to be fed.” The figurative language creates a powerful insight with just a few words and provides the reader with a sensory connection to the way a baby cries until it needs to be fed, just like a dream needs to be fed with everything you have. Figurative language peaks our senses and provides a lingering image with emotional intensity very quickly, which is very useful for poetry.

Reynolds in his creation of this letter in verse uses very precise vocabulary matching the right word at the right time to leave a lasting impact on the reader. He says, “I’d rather suffer from internal eczema, constantly irritated by the itch of possibility.” His word choice here leads the reader with both a lingering sensation of what this would feel like, but also a sense of knowledge from the different levels of vocabulary being utilized. Another example is his description of fear; he says, “The flame of doubt and fear, the warmth and comfort always enticing and familiar though venomous and life extinguishing.” These words are very precise and leave the reader connecting to different levels words like flame, enticing and extinguishing.

The precise word choices and the figurative language create a musical feel to his letter in verse. Sometimes Reynolds used repetition and rhyme to increase the strength of tones and create emphasis. For example, he says, “It all depends. Some say on skill. Some say on will. Some say on luck. Some say on buck. Some say on race. Some say on face.” This rhyme burrows into your mind and creates a feel of musical nature. While most of the pages in the letter are free verse, they all still have that musical cadence created from the way he puts the words and lines together and how they blend to establish patterns.

Personally, For Every One really connected with me when Reynolds says, “At sixteen I thought I would’ve made it by now. At eighteen I said twenty-five… and now at almost twenty-eight I’m just almost twenty-eight… Dreams don’t have timelines, deadlines, and aren’t always in straight lines.” We all think that we have to have it made by a certain point in time, but dreams don’t always work out that way and that’s okay. Our dreams can also change over time and what you thought you might always do, just might not be right for you, again that’s okay. I think we all need to hear that no matter where we are in life it’s never too late to chase a dream or change a dream. Sometimes families can put pressure on you to be a success by a certain age, or you feel your socioeconomic status may hold you back, but no matter where you’re from or what you want to do in life, For Every One provides you with the inspiration to chase your dreams, face your fears, and have the courage to jump anyway. Overall, I think For Every One deserves four out of five stars!

Reynolds has created a beautiful letter in verse that provides hope and courage despite fear for everyone. With its figurative language descriptions and precise vocabulary, For Every One leaves a lasting impact on the reader. The way the lines are written and the way the words and patterns blend together creates music in language that increases the appeal and strength of the story for its readers.

“This is for the courageous,

And everyone who wants to be.”

Reynolds, J. (2018). For Every One. New York, NY: Atheneum.