38 pages • 1 hour read
Jason ReynoldsA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses anti-Black racism and racist violence.
The unnamed narrator talks about his experience of the COVID pandemic—in particular, being stuck at home during a lockdown phase—along with the social unrest and political protests that followed the police killings of Breyona Taylor and George Floyd. Over images of a burning city and billows of smoke, he sits around and wonders why his mother watches reruns of the same negative news cycle that only talks about how awful everything is and how nothing will ever change. At the same time, his brother refuses to look away from his video game. For these pages, the imagery changes from burning cities to pristine houses on a lush, green hill with a vibrant blue sky in the background. The narrator elbows his brother in the ribs, trying to jostle him awake, but the brother ignores him and continues to stare at his game.
The news broadcast is about how another woman and young man have been killed, and how “a kid [the narrator’s] age” couldn’t breathe (31-32). The word “killed” is omitted and replaced by blank, black pages, while a full-page image of someone drowning accompanies the words couldn’t breathe.
By Jason Reynolds
All American Boys
Brendan Kiely, Jason Reynolds
As Brave As You
Jason Reynolds
Eraser Tattoo
Jason Reynolds
For Every One
Jason Reynolds
Ghost
Jason Reynolds
Long Way Down
Jason Reynolds
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Jason Reynolds
Lu
Jason Reynolds
Miles Morales: Spider-Man
Jason Reynolds
Patina
Jason Reynolds
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
Ibram X. Kendi, Jason Reynolds
Stuntboy, in the Meantime
Jason Reynolds
Sunny
Jason Reynolds
The Boy in the Black Suit
Jason Reynolds
There Was a Party for Langston
Jason Reynolds
When I Was the Greatest
Jason Reynolds
Books About Art
View Collection
Childhood & Youth
View Collection
Contemporary Books on Social Justice
View Collection
Family
View Collection
Graphic Novels & Books
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Nation & Nationalism
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
The Best of "Best Book" Lists
View Collection