Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Intense.  That's the only way to describe this.  I am still shaking and crying as I write this.

Will's brother was murdered.  In his neighborhood, it's expected there will be revenge.  With his brother's gun, he boards the elevator.  He's heading down to the Lobby to seek that revenge.  On each floor, a ghost from Will's past enters to offer advice.  The last ghost to enter is his brother Shawn.  I am not going to spoil what Shawn says exactly, except to say I broke out in awful, ugly tears and started shaking.

Because I don't want to give away the words Shawn says, I will instead make some comparisons I thought of as I was reading.

First, in A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is visited by 4 ghosts (Marley, Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future).  Their purpose is to persuade Scrooge to change his ways.

Second, in "The Lady or the Tiger", the maiden's choice is not revealed to the reader.  Did she send her lover to the altar with another woman?  Or did she sentence him to death by the hungry tiger?

That's all I am going to say on the plot.

Now, one other bit of review.  The story is told in verse, in a sort of free style poetry.  I know many people scoff at the idea of reading poetry, but for this it just works.  Will is giving us his inner most thoughts and feelings (and those of the ghosts who visit). Our emotions do not follow the laws of prose.  We don't think in paragraphs and proper grammar.

An amazing story that will stick with you.

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.