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    Long Way Down
    Long Way Down
    Long Way Down
    Audiobook1 hour

    Long Way Down

    Written by Jason Reynolds

    Narrated by Jason Reynolds

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    “An intense snapshot of the chain reaction caused by pulling a trigger.” —Booklist (starred review)
    “Astonishing.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
    “A tour de force.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

    A Newbery Honor Book
    A Coretta Scott King Honor Book
    A Printz Honor Book
    A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)
    A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature
    Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
    Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award
    An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction
    Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
    An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017
    A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017
    A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017

    An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds’s electrifying 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.

    Editor's Note

    Award-winning intensity…

    This will be the most intense elevator ride of your life. Every second counts in this experimental story about a boy contemplating revenge for his brother’s murder. Jason Reynold’s book has received many accolades, including a Newbery Honor and LA Times Book Prize.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateOct 24, 2017
    ISBN9781508241584
    Author

    Jason Reynolds

    Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a UK Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, an Odyssey Award Winner and two-time honoree, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was also the 2020–2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); When I Was the Greatest; The Boy in the Black Suit; Stamped; As Brave as You; For Every One; the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu); Look Both Ways; Stuntboy, in the Meantime; Ain’t Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. His debut picture book, There Was a Party for Langston, won a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.

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    Reviews for Long Way Down

    4.5/5

    1,021 ratings46 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Really intense and great book. Would highly recommend for adults and teens.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      this one went deep.. loved it plah plah plah why should I write more words

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Amazing story, amazing narration. Will’s journey is a touching one, the poetry as stunning as the emotional turmoil this book puts you through. This book needs to be put in every school library.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      4.5* This was beautiful and lyrical, with the messages hitting all the right places of my heart. I can’t believe I didn’t read this sooner.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book is mind-blowingly good. And it's such an important and touching read as well. I'd recommend it to anyone!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book should be required reading for middle to high school English. It's not only beautifully written, but the story is one everyone should read and think about. Jason Reynolds never ceases to amaze me.
    • 5/5
      Excellent. Well done Jason Reynolds. I enjoyed this journey for sure.
    • 4/5
      A short but powerful one-two punch. I love a story with a powerful, clever concept and this has that. This book takes place in 60 seconds—the 60 second ride down an elevator in which Will must decide whether or not to avenge his brother’s murder. So much is packed into this tiny story about the cycle of violence and generational trauma. Highly recommend listening on audio read by the wonderful author.
    • 5/5
      I read this when I was in school a year ago, it was sooo good. Love it.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful book. We never know how closely our lives would match others if we were in the same situations and had the same circumstances. This book explored grief and revenge in such an empathetic way.
    • 5/5
      Extend empathy and compassion for young individuals, who have experienced trauma. The brotherly relationship between Will and Shawn evolve through following a set of rules to live and die by. It leaves the reader with an open ended conclusion in terms of what does Will decide to do. Should he avenge his dead brother through tradition or should he decide for himself what is best for him in the moment and for his future. Long Way Down is described as Boyz in the Hood blended with A Christmas Carol with a series of dead ghosts visiting Will in and elevator as it descends to the lobby. There Will has to make the right decision and what works best for him. Bravo, Jason Reynolds! I will be teaching this to my high school students in the fall.
    • 4/5
      This was compelling & unique. I loved it. The narration is *chef’s kiss*. ?
    • 5/5
      This is absolutely outstanding. Every page has a new short little poem that tells what is going on in the story. It truly is an amazing book, not only the structure which the author has written it in, but also what the story it about. I am trying not to spoil most of it so I'll keep short and sweet, and tell you that the main character really does learn going down the elevator. You might want to read some more posts to see others people's reactions to this enjoyable book if you want, or you can just go straight to reading it. Just be mindful that this book is very hard to forget about. When you have free time, your mind will immediately pop this book into your head to keep you reading. If you don't seem to like this book very much, I don't blame you because everyone has their own reasons for not liking things. The only thing I would tell you though, is that please don't convince others to feel that way if they originally enjoyed it. They can enjoy it if they want, and you can dislike it if you want. I blame no one. Now! Get to reading!
    • 4/5
      Asombroso! Un libro que llega al corazón. Excelente narración del autor.
    • 5/5
      experiência incrível, acompanhei o áudio book com o livro em pt, enriqueceu minha leitura
    • 5/5
      Loved it!! So heart wrenching ? but it is such a thought provoking story ?
    • 4/5
      Amazing. I really recommend to listen to Reynolds' interview at the end, it's really added to the story. As someone who is'nt from the US or a english speaking country and still connected to this story a lot (in a short term of time), I think everyone needs to give this book a try.
      Because as Reynolds says in the end- if we stop judging (as I myself, and most if not of all of us, do), we can make the world a better place.
      This book taught me a lot and I would try to take some things into my personal life. Have a nice listening. And ALWAYS try to listen. to anyone.
    • 5/5
      One of this Librarian’s favorite YA authors! Fantastic, especially great with the author reading it.
    • 3/5
      I couldn't hear the narration. Please speak louder so people can hear.
    • 5/5
      This was absolutely beautiful. The way Jason Reynolds told this story.. wow
    • 5/5
      amazing narration, it was really easy to follow the story, the voice of the author is really pleasing to listen to
    • 5/5
      I’ve read the book and wanted to listen to Jason Reynolds read it too. Amazing.
    • 5/5
      Amazing!!!! Definitely a must read for younger readers. Would recommend
    • 5/5
      Wow. Excellent writing and imagery. Amazing concept. Very real. Brilliant.
    • 5/5
      Profound poetry. Know that the very trajectory of our lives can change in a split second. What if those who walked before us could help change that trajectory? Read this poem with that in mind. It' a quick read; but one that can help you gain a new perspective, and you will want to return to again and again.
    • 5/5
      READ. THIS. BOOK. YOU NEED TO. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
    • 2/5
      I think I expected too much from this one. I did enjoy the format, the author’s narration in the audiobook and how fast this was, but maybe it was too fast?
      The way it was written didn’t let me get attached to the main character and there wasn’t enough description to let me properly imagine the world in which this story takes place. I tried to imagine the area the main character lived in and the ghetto atmosphere, or the characters. I understand why many people love this book, but this just wasn’t for me.
    • 5/5
      "Try to extend empathy and this world will be a better place" I think it's great he wrote this to help people who don't grow up around and aren't exposed to what some people have to live through, to help understand that it's not always clear cut good or bad. Sometimea people are just doing the best they know how. None of us have a right to judge, when we don't know the circumstances
    • 5/5
      Loved the word imagery of this book. It was like a poem. I highly recommend this book, and it had such a powerful message. I've read a previous book of his, and that is what led me to this book. Glad I read/listened to it.
    • 5/5
      Haunting. Thought provoking. Listen to learn, listen to gain empathy, listen for the beautiful, lyrical voice of Jason Reynolds. Listen for the beautiful language that is so raw, descriptive, and beautiful.