This story was going to begin like all the best stories. With a school bus falling from the sky. But no one saw it happen. They were all too busy—
Talking about boogers.
Stealing pocket change.
Skateboarding.
Wiping out.
Braving up.
Executing complicated handshakes.
Planning an escape.
Making jokes.
Lotioning up.
Finding comfort.
But mostly, too busy walking home.
Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life.
Review: This was such a great premise for a book and makes this one easy to pick up, rwad a story and put back down again. I love that these stories are not too long but also the fact that they are all linked because of their location. They don;t necessarily follow on from one another but you might spy a character from one story or an event from another story cropping up more than once.
I could definitely recognise a lot of the characters in this book in children that I used to teach and I could picture the neighborhood very clearly so if you are an adult reading this book, fear not there is plenty for you here. So many of these stories managed to fit in so much character development in such a short space and also so much intrigue. I was definitely left wanting more from a few of the stories and hope that this setting might come up again in a future Jason Reynolds novel.
I think my favourite stories were making jokes and lotioning up and you could definitely see Jason Reynolds poetry coming through in all ten of these stories. I really enjoyed this one, it would make and excellent gift or and excellent addition to your classroom.
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