Long Way Down

Photo credit Simon and Schuster

“This rickety thing has always moved slow, Buck said, grinning. Yeah, but this is ridiculous, I replied, palms wetting. Might as well relax, Buck said.

It’s a long

                        Way    

                                    Down."

In a matter of one elevator ride, 60 seconds to be exact, how would seeing everyone you love, everyone who died by gun violence, in an elevator with you on your way to avenge your brother’s death? Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a powerful novel in verse taking in all the different aspects and perspectives of a death by gun violence.

The precision of Reynolds’ word choices make a powerful impact on the reader. The words that mean something in the beginning come back later along the elevator ride to make both the reader and Will, the main character, think about what happened and about what he is about to do and what he remembers about each person he meets. For example when he meets Dani his childhood best friend,

“Gunshots

Like firecrackers

Coming from everywhere,

Dani said her body burned

And all she wanted to do was

Jump outside of herself,

Swing to somewhere else

Like we pretended to do

On monkey bars.”

This poem takes him and the reader back to the playground where his brother taught him how to backflip off the monkey bars and how he taught Dani and then when it happened. These powerful word choices completely pull at the reader’s heart and keep the reader turning the page.

The figurative language that Reynolds uses creates a full sensory feeling for the reader, pulling them into the story and not letting them go. With each page the words seems to create a feeling, a sense about what was going to happen, and a connection to the pain, the fear, the anger and grief that is felt by those who lose someone. For example:

“A noise from the hallway

My mother,

Stumbling to the bathroom,

Her sobs leading the way.”

“SLEEP

Ran from me

For what seemed

Like forever,

Hid from me

Like I used to hide

From Shawn

Before finally

Peeking out from

Behind pain.”

The composition of text that Reynolds creates within each poem creates powerful images that connect the reader to a visual of what Will is seeing. The creation of images with the words themselves makes the impact of the words more powerful. For example,

“Ive never been

In an        earthquake

Don’t        know if this was

Even        close to how they

Are,       but the ground

Defi     nitely felt like

It o     pened up

And      ate me.”

The way the words are broken apart like the ground opens up in an earthquake is visually engaging and draws the reader into the story. Or the way he makes words display the visual he’s describing such as:

“At the elevator…

White light

Surrounded the

Black arrow.

Down

Down

Down Down Down

Down Down

Down”

I could not put this book down! It was incredibly moving and passionate and meaningful. I connected with the way Reynolds displayed the different perspectives and aspects of everyone who is affected by gun violence. While the rules said to get revenge, not everyone thinks about how that revenge will just continue to light the spark towards revenge upon them or what happens if they get revenge on the wrong person. So many people are affected by gun violence daily and there needs to be more light on the impact this violence has on so many different people than those who were murdered. Each person has a story and each person is affected in different ways, but everyone is affected by gun violence and I think more people need to look beyond revenge and how this just continues. I think this is a must read for everyone. It’s a powerful read that deserves the awards and honors its received. I give Long Way Down five out of five stars and highly recommend it.

Jason Reynolds has a way with words and this free form novel in verse is the perfect display of his writing! The way he integrates figurative language into the poems to provide the reader with a full sensory experience in connection with the composition of words in the shapes and breaks to create a visual experience for the reader shows the masterful precision in his word choices to enhance the experience of the reader. It was captivating, stunning, heartbreaking and a necessary read to shed light on the hurt and the cycle of gun violence.  

Reynolds, J. (2017). Long Way Down. New York: Atheneum.