Jason Reynolds facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jason Reynolds
Reynolds in 2020
Born	(1983-12-06) December 6, 1983 (age 41) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Language	English
Alma mater	University of Maryland
Genre	Young adult fiction
Notable works	When I Was the Greatest Boy in the Black Suit As Brave as You Ghost (Track series) 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
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Jason Reynolds (born December 6, 1983) is an American author. He writes novels and poetry for young people, including those aged 12-14. He was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Reynolds found inspiration in rap music. He first focused on poetry, publishing several collections. His first novel, When I Was the Greatest, came out in 2014. It won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

Over the next few years, Reynolds wrote many more books. These include the New York Times best-selling Track series: Ghost (2016), Patina (2017), Sunny (2018), and Lu (2018). Ghost was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Another notable book, As Brave as You (2016), won the Kirkus Prize and the NAACP Image Award. Reynolds also wrote a Marvel Comics novel called Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2017).

In 2017, Reynolds wrote Long Way Down, a novel told in verse (like a long poem). This book received many honors, including a Newbery Medal Honor and a Michael L. Printz Award Honor. In 2019, he wrote Look Both Ways, which won a Carnegie Medal.

From 2020 to 2022, Jason Reynolds was the Library of Congress' National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. This role meant he traveled to talk about reading and books with young people. In 2023, he won the Margaret A. Edwards Award. In 2024, he was named a MacArthur Fellow, which is a special award for talented people.

Jason Reynolds' Early Life and Inspiration

Jason Reynolds was born on December 6, 1983, in Washington, D.C. He grew up nearby in Oxon Hill, Maryland. His mother was a special education teacher. She bought a house there with a yard for Jason, his three siblings, and sometimes other family members.

How Jason Reynolds Started Writing

When he was nine years old, Reynolds was inspired by Queen Latifah's music album, Black Reign. He started writing poetry because of it. He felt that few books at the time truly showed what it was like to grow up as a Black child in the city during the 1980s and 1990s. He did not start reading books for fun until he was 17. Famous rappers like Tupac and Biggie also greatly influenced him.

One of Reynolds's first poems was about his grandmother's death in 1994 when he was 10. He wrote lines to comfort his mother, who put the poem on the funeral program. After that, Reynolds wrote poems whenever his grandmother's siblings passed away. These experiences showed him "the power of language." He kept writing poetry through high school and college. He graduated from Bishop McNamara High School in 2000. He later earned a degree in English from the University of Maryland.

College Years and Discovering Books

While in college, Reynolds met Jason Griffin, who became his roommate and later a collaborator. Reynolds also discovered spoken word poetry during this time. He began performing his poems, even doing solo shows. In 2001, his first book, a poetry collection called Let Me Speak, was published.

During college, Reynolds also worked at Karibu Books, a bookstore in D.C. It specialized in African-American literature. There, he found books that truly spoke to him for the first time. He read Richard Wright's novel Black Boy and loved it. He then read other great works by African-American authors like James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, and Toni Morrison. He also found "street fiction" or "urban fiction" at the store. Reynolds compared this type of writing to rap music because it was "raw and honest." He felt it showed the real lives of some kids.

Jason Reynolds' Personal Life

In 2016, Reynolds moved back to Washington, D.C. from Brooklyn. He collects items related to African-American literature. These include a letter from Langston Hughes and a signed first edition of Toni Morrison's Beloved. He appeared on the TV show Antiques Roadshow in 2021 to talk about his collection.

Jason Reynolds' Books and Themes

Reynolds does not start writing a book with a specific age group in mind. Instead, he focuses on making his characters' voices sound real. This helps decide who the book will appeal to. All his books feature characters from minority backgrounds. He sees this as a way to show the modern world.

Early Books and Collaborations

After college, Reynolds moved to New York with his friend, Jason Griffin. In 2005, they self-published a book called SELF. It combined Griffin's art with Reynolds's poetry. This book helped them get a literary agent and a book deal. Four years later, they published My Name Is Jason. Mine Too.: Our Story. Our Way. This book was a memoir about moving to New York to follow their dreams. It was told through Reynolds's poetry and Griffin's drawings.

Reynolds later moved back to D.C. in 2008. He worked at a department store to pay his bills. He would visit a bookstore on his lunch break to see his book on the shelf. He then became a caseworker at a mental health clinic.

Eventually, Reynolds returned to New York. He worked in retail again. He started writing a young adult novel, often while working at the cash register. His friend Chris Myers, who is also an author, encouraged him. Chris told Reynolds that there would soon be a need for new books about young Black children, especially boys. Reynolds read some of Chris's father's old books, like The Young Landlords. This book helped Reynolds feel confident to "write in my voice, use my tongue, my language, my style." He realized he didn't have to write like famous authors he admired.

In 2014, Reynolds published When I Was The Greatest. This young adult novel is set in Reynolds's own neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. It won the 2015 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

In 2015, Reynolds published The Boy in the Black Suit. This book is about a child dealing with the sadness of losing his mother. It received a Coretta Scott King Award Honor.

All American Boys (2015)

Reynolds at the National Book Festival in 2022

In 2015, Reynolds also published All American Boys. He wrote this book with Brendan Kiely. The story is about a Black teenager who is wrongly accused of stealing and is hurt by a white police officer. The book is told from two points of view. Reynolds wrote from the perspective of the injured teenager, Rashad Butler. Kiely wrote from the perspective of Quinn Collins, a white teenager who saw the event.

This book came from conversations between Reynolds, who is Black, and Kiely, who is white. They met in 2013 during a book tour. At that time, news was breaking about important events related to racial justice. They became friends and kept talking about these issues. After a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, Kiely suggested they write a book about police actions and racial profiling.

The book won the first Walter Dean Myers Award from the We Need Diverse Books organization. It also received a Coretta Scott King Award Honor.

As Brave as You (2016)

In 2016, Reynolds published As Brave as You. This book won the 2016 Kirkus Prize and the 2017 NAACP Image Award. It tells the story of two African-American brothers from Brooklyn who spend the summer with their grandfather in Virginia. Reviewers noted how Reynolds skillfully mixed humor and emotion through lively conversations and realistic sibling relationships.

Track Series (2016-2025)

The Track series follows different main characters. All of them are part of an elite track team called the Defenders. In 2016, Reynolds published Ghost, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Reviewers praised the main character, Ghost, saying his journey felt very real.

Three more books followed in the series. Patina (2017) is about another young star runner, Patina "Patty" Jones. Patty feels different at her mostly white private school. Patty and her younger sister live with their uncle and his wife because their birth mother cannot care for them. Critics noted how well the book handled topics like teamwork and different family structures. This was the first book Reynolds wrote from a female character's point of view.

The third book in the series, Sunny, came out on April 10, 2018. The fourth book, Lu, was released on October 23, 2018. The fifth book in the series, Coach, was released on October 14, 2025.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2017)

Reynolds wrote Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2017). This novel is based on the Marvel Comics character who is an Afro-Puerto Rican teenager. Reynolds wanted the book to explore important social issues by showing them through the experiences of one family. He said he wanted to take issues he cared about and imagine "what they look like as a person."

Long Way Down (2017)

Reynolds and psychologist Manfred Günther, Library Festival Berlin 2018

Reynolds's 2017 book, Long Way Down, is a novel written in verse. It is about a 15-year-old who sees his brother killed. Reynolds was inspired to write this book by his own experience of a friend being murdered when Reynolds was 19. He also visited juvenile detention centers and saw young people caught in cycles of violence. He realized how lucky he was that he and his friends did not seek revenge after his friend's murder.

Long Way Down received many awards and honors in 2018. These include a Newbery Medal Honor, a Michael L. Printz Award Honor, and the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Work. A stage play based on Long Way Down was performed at the Kennedy Center in 2018. In October 2020, a graphic novel version of Long Way Down was published with art by Danica Novgorodoff.

For Every One (2018)

On April 10, 2018, Reynolds released For Every One, a book of poetry. He first performed this poem at the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Soon after, Reynolds had three books on The New York Times best-seller lists for children's literature.

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks (2019)

Look Both Ways was published on October 8, 2019. The story is told from different viewpoints across ten city blocks. It follows middle schoolers as they walk home from school. On its release day, Look Both Ways became a finalist for the National Book Award. It later made the New York Times Best Sellers List. Jason Reynolds explained that he wanted to show kids' independence in this book. He said, "It is a time when they are unsupervised" and "get to learn about the world on their own." He won the 2021 Carnegie Medal for the book.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (2019-2021)

Reynolds announced Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You in August 2019. He wrote it with Ibram X. Kendi. Released in March 2020, Reynolds's book is a version of Kendi's book Stamped from the Beginning, which won the National Book Award in 2016. Reynolds's book is for teens and young adults. It aims to start conversations about race and racism in America. Reynolds said, "This is the definitive history of race in America from the 1400s to today."

In 2021, Reynolds, Kendi, and Sonja Cherry-Paul published Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You. This book was illustrated by Rachelle Baker and became a New York Times best seller.

My Mother Made Me Podcast (2022)

In 2022, Reynolds wrote and hosted My Mother Made Me. This was a podcast he made with Radiotopia. In the four-episode series, Jason Reynolds and his mother, Isabell, talk about their shared history. They discuss how she raised him and what they teach each other. They talk about serious topics like birth and death, but also lighthearted things like shopping and going to the casino.

There Was a Party for Langston (2023)

Reynolds released his first picture book for younger kids, There Was a Party for Langston, in 2023. Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey illustrated the book. Reynolds was inspired by a photo of writers Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka dancing at a party. The party was for the opening of the Langston Hughes Auditorium at the New York Public Library. He wanted the book to feel like "rumpus time." He also said the book is about libraries and how they can be joyful places. He wanted kids to know that libraries are "places for dancing and for self-expression."

Awards and Honors

Jason Reynolds has received many awards for his writing. Some of his notable awards include:

• John Steptoe New Talent Author Award (2015) for When I Was the Greatest
• Walter Dean Myers Award (2016) for All American Boys
• NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/Teens (2017) for As Brave as You
• Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Work (2018) for Long Way Down
• Carnegie Medal (2021) for Look Both Ways
• Margaret Edwards Award (2023) for his lasting contribution to young adult literature
• Michael L. Printz Award (2024) for The Collectors: Stories
• Coretta Scott King Author Award (2025) for Twenty-Four Seconds from Now... : A LOVE Story

He was also the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature from 2020 to 2022. In 2024, he was named a MacArthur Fellow.

Images for kids

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  Reynolds in 2020

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  Reynolds and psychologist Manfred Günther, Library Festival Berlin 2018

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  Reynolds at the National Book Festival in 2022