Jason Reynolds facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds in 2020
Born	(1983-12-06) December 6, 1983 (age 42) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Language	English
Education	University of Maryland
Genre	Young adult fiction
Notable works	All American Boys As Brave as You Ghost Miles Morales: Spider-Man Long Way Down Look Both Ways
Notable awards	Coretta Scott King Award NAACP Image Award Carnegie Medal Margaret A. Edwards Award MacArthur Fellowship

Jason Reynolds is an American author of novels and poems for young adult and middle grade readers. He was born in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 1983, and grew up in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Reynolds loved rap music as a kid, which inspired him to write his own poetry. He wrote his first novel, When I Was the Greatest, in 2014. That book won the prestigious John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

Over the next few years, Reynolds became a New York Times best-selling author. Readers around the world love his exciting Track series, which starts with the popular book Ghost. He also wrote famous books like As Brave as You, Long Way Down, and Look Both Ways. He even created an original story for Marvel Comics about the hero Miles Morales. Reynolds served as the Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People's Literature from 2020 to 2022.

Who Is Jason Reynolds and How Did He Grow Up?

Reynolds was born on December 6, 1983, in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. His family soon moved to nearby Oxon Hill, where they lived in a house with a big yard. His mother worked as a special education teacher in a public school. Reynolds shared this home with his mother, three siblings, and other relatives.

As a young boy, Reynolds did not enjoy reading traditional school books. In fact, he did not read a full book until he was 17 years old. Instead, music caught his attention and sparked his imagination. When he was nine years old, he listened to Queen Latifah's famous album, Black Reign. Her clever rhymes and powerful words inspired him to start writing his own poems. He also listened closely to other famous musicians like Tupac and Biggie. Their lyrics helped him understand the world around him.

Reynolds learned early in life that words could comfort people. When his grandmother passed away in 1994, ten-year-old Reynolds wrote a short poem for his mother. She printed his verses on the funeral program so everyone could read them. Reynolds saw how much his words helped his grieving family. From that moment on, he understood the amazing power of language and kept writing poems through high school.

Learning and Discovering Great Books

Reynolds attended Bishop McNamara High School and graduated in 2000. He then went to college at the University of Maryland. College was not always easy for him, and some professors gave him low grades. However, Reynolds refused to give up on his passion for storytelling. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

During his college years, Reynolds worked at a bookstore named Karibu Books, which focused on African-American literature. That shop opened up a brand new world for him. He began reading classic authors like Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, and Toni Morrison. These powerful writers showed him that books could sound honest, energetic, and real.

While in college, Reynolds also discovered spoken word poetry, which is poetry performed aloud on a stage. He teamed up with his roommate, an artist named Jason Griffin. Together, they began performing and sharing their ideas. In 2001, Reynolds published his very first poetry collection, called Let Me Speak.

Life in New York and Washington

After finishing college, Reynolds moved to Brooklyn, a famous part of New York City, with Griffin. Reynolds worked hard at retail clothing stores like Rag & Bone and at a Lord & Taylor department store. In between helping customers at the cash register, he jotted down story ideas. He later moved back to Washington, D.C., in 2016.

Reynolds loves collecting special treasures connected to African-American literature. He owns a letter written by the famous poet Langston Hughes. He also owns a rare copy of Claude Brown's book Manchild in the Promised Land. Another treasure is an autographed first edition copy of Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. He even shared his passion for collecting on the television show Antiques Roadshow.

What Famous Books Did Jason Reynolds Write?

Reynolds writes stories where young people can see their own lives reflected honestly. He focuses on creating realistic voices that sound like real conversations. A fellow writer and artist named Christopher Myers, the son of legendary author Walter Dean Myers, pushed Reynolds to write novels for kids. Myers noticed that young readers needed more stories featuring Black children. Reynolds read Walter Dean Myers's book The Young Landlords, which inspired him to write using his natural voice.

In 2014, Reynolds published When I Was the Greatest with Atheneum Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It was set in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. The book won the John Steptoe Award from the American Library Association. In 2015, he published The Boy in the Black Suit, which earned a prestigious Coretta Scott King Honor.

Exploring Teamwork with the Track Series

One of Reynolds's most famous creations is the Track series. These books follow four different young runners who join a championship track team called the Defenders. Each book focuses on a different character who runs for unique personal reasons.

The first book, Ghost, came out in 2016. The story follows Castle Cranshaw, a boy nicknamed Ghost who can run extremely fast. Ghost must learn how to channel his energy into racing rather than running away from problems. Author Kate Messner wrote in The New York Times that Ghost belongs alongside classic kid characters like Ramona Quimby and Joey Pigza. The novel became a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

The second book, Patina, appeared in 2017. Patina, called "Patty," runs the relay race and carries many responsibilities for her family. Reviewer Tom Rinaldi praised the book, and it received high acclaim in magazines like Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, The Horn Book Magazine, and Booklist. The third book, Sunny, arrived in 2018. It tells the story of an athlete who loves to dance. Paste magazine praised the audiobook for capturing Sunny's playful voice. The fourth book, Lu, also debuted in 2018, followed later by Coach.

Superhero Adventures and Verse Novels

In 2017, Reynolds wrote Miles Morales: Spider-Man for Marvel Comics. He wanted to explore what everyday life feels like for a teen hero. Reynolds drew inspiration from filmmaker Jordan Peele and his movie Get Out to explore meaningful social issues. Critics from School Library Journal and the Washington City Paper praised the book's warmth and energetic style.

That same year, Reynolds released Long Way Down. This gripping book is written completely in verse, like one continuous poem. The novel takes place during a single 60-second elevator ride. The main character meets ghosts of people from his past while making a huge decision about fairness. Reynolds based parts of the story on real challenges faced by young people. He wanted to show that listening and thinking carefully can stop conflicts before they start.

Long Way Down became a massive success. It was named a Newbery Honor book and earned a Michael L. Printz Honor. It also won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America and another Coretta Scott King Honor. In 2020, artist Danica Novgorodoff helped turn the story into a popular graphic novel.

Meaningful Collaboration and Big Ideas

Reynolds frequently works with other talented writers to share important messages. In 2015, he teamed up with author Brendan Kiely to publish All American Boys. The book follows two classmates, Rashad and Quinn, who learn how to speak up for fairness in their neighborhood. The story won the Walter Dean Myers Award from We Need Diverse Books.

In 2016, he published As Brave as You, which was reviewed favorably in The Washington Post. It earned the Kirkus Prize, the Schneider Family Book Award, and an NAACP Image Award. In 2019, Reynolds wrote Look Both Ways, following ten different paths of kids walking home from school. This book became a National Book Award finalist and won the prestigious Carnegie Medal.

Reynolds also worked with historian Ibram X. Kendi on the book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, which adapted Kendi's work Stamped from the Beginning. They also published an edition titled Stamped (For Kids) with educator Sonja Cherry-Paul and illustrator Rachelle Baker. In 2023, Reynolds created a picture book called There Was a Party for Langston, illustrated by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey. It celebrated the fun history of libraries and authors like Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka honoring poet Langston Hughes.

How Does Jason Reynolds Inspire Young Readers?

Reynolds and psychologist Manfred Günther, Library Festival Berlin 2018

Reynolds travels around the world to meet students in schools, libraries, and community centers. He reminds kids that their personal stories matter, no matter who they are. From 2020 through 2022, the Library of Congress chose him as the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. During this time, he encouraged young people to share their creativity.

Reynolds received many major honors for his lifelong work as a writer. In 2023, he received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association. In 2024, he won the famous MacArthur Fellowship, an award often called the "genius grant." Through every poem and book, Reynolds continues to show young people that reading can be exciting, powerful, and fun.

Awards and Accolades

Quotes

• "I don't expect it to be easy, but I'm certain it will be fruitful. My mission is to take a different approach: Instead of explicitly encouraging young people to read, my goal is to get them to see the value in their own narratives — that they, too, have a story, and that there's power not just in telling it, but in the opportunity to do so."
• "It's hard to be what you can't see."
• "Hip-hop saved me. It gave me permission to use language in a certain way."
• "It totally matters to me that teenagers think I'm cool. I mean, teens keep their fingers on the pulse of culture. When things shift, it's usually because they shift them."
• "My hope is that reading and writing becomes the new "waiting in line to buy Jordans."

Images for kids

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  Jason Reynolds speaking at the National Book Festival in 2022

See Also

• Tomi Adeyemi
• Eve Ewing
• Ronald L. Smith
• Javaka Steptoe
• Angie Thomas