Long Way Down (Jason Reynolds)

Shawn is dead. Will, his younger brother, remembers the three rules of his neighborhood:

1) No crying

2) No snitching

3) Get revenge

Will finds Shawn's gun and plans to kill the perpetrator. But in the elevator, Will encounters the ghosts of friends and family who have killed and been killed over the years. He wrestles with the past and these rules . . . were they meant to be broken? Or "for the broken to follow"? And he remembers his mother's words . . .

but just remember, when

you're walking in the nighttime,

make sure the nighttime

ain't walking into you.

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This book, presented in verse with sparse word counts on each page, is powerful. You can get through the 306 pages in an hour, but reflect on it for days. The format heightens the tension, the sadness, the hardship. What terrible cycles of vengeance we can find ourselves in. What will we do when wronged?

Rating: A