Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds

The newest by one of my favorite authors - very exciting! Taking a short break from OBOB books to dive into this newest book by the author of Ghost. Long Way Down is written in verse style, which makes it very fast if you account only for the number of words on the page. But much of the time the brevity of the story makes you have to slow down...this book is heavy in terms of subject matter. Reynolds always writes about the young Black experience in America today with realistic words, ideas, thoughts and situations, which is what makes his work so great! That, and his wonderful way with words that captures a ready from the very beginning, every single time. This is a story of a young black boy on his way down the elevator of his apartment building to avenge the death of his brother just the day before. The majority of the story takes place on that elevator ride, which may not sound very interesting, but don't let that stop you form giving this a try. I will admit that I wished Reynolds has not chosen verse for the writing, as I found myself wanting more from him along the way in this one. But that does not mean that verse does not work here - it does! I just wanted a little more a few times during the telling. But perhaps that is just me being greedy for his writing? A multiple-award winning book, I highly recommend it - and everything Reynolds has written so far! 5 paws!