Review: Reynolds, J. (2019). Long way down.

LSSL 5385: Required Authors

Reynolds, J. (2019). Long way down. New York, NY: Antheneum.

In his considerably-awarded free verse work, Long Way Down, Jason Reynolds examines the role that passed-down “rules” play in the perpetuating cycle of violence within inner-city, African American neighborhoods. A predominant theme throughout this slice of subculture is that young black men’s fates are often decided for them by the generations before. In this story, fifteen year-old Will Holloman relates the events of the past forty-eight hours: his nineteen year-old brother, Shawn, being gunned down in the street, he, his mother and friends reeling in the aftermath, and his decision on the morning after to take his brother’s gun and kill the person he thinks is most likely responsible.

Most of the story takes place on the morning after between the times of 9:08 and 9:09 AM, recorded second-by-second, not unlike a brief but detailed dream sequence. Will takes the gun--defined by a number of nicknames he identifies--and boards the elevator in his building, intent on reaching the bottom so that he can go and shoot Riggs, a former friend of Shawn’s who has claimed alliance to a gang and protection of its turf. During this sixty-second elevator ride to the lobby, Will is visited by a number of ghosts, all friends or family members who have died by gun violence. In conversation with these apparitions, Will reflects on the subculture of violence in which he has grown up, including not just gun use, but drugs and alcohol, crime as income, gangs, and turf wars. He holds a number of rules to be unbreakable, from petty elevator rules, to the most serious, revenge: kill the person who killed someone you love.

Although the spirits question his plan, there is never overt discouragement of it. Instead, Will begins to see a pattern: young black men and women, once full of their own promise and potential, now dead for all the same reasons. In fact, he discovers that in most cases he did not know the whole story; sometimes it is far more tragic than even he knew, but throughout, it becomes clear that most of his loved ones actually died because of the rule of revenge and their pursuit of it. Although the ending, including Will’s ultimate choice, is ambiguous, he at least sees one rule broken before the ghosts depart--no crying--and realizes it doesn’t change anything in regards to his feelings for his loved ones, suggesting that perhaps the rules can be broken, after all.

The theme of young black people’s lives being decided for them emerges throughout, beginning with Will pointing out that he doesn’t know where the rules started, but that it was well before his own brother, father, uncle, and back and back. This idea is underscored again when he thinks on the generations who have handed these expectations down. It is truly a “long way down,” not just the pivotal elevator ride, but the dangerous direction given down from adults to children. It is further developed through his realization that retribution killings lead to more retribution killings, and so on, indefinitely. The biggest question Will is really facing is not whether or not to comitt murder, but whether it’s really even a possibility to break the unbreakable rules. By the end the reader understands his predicament, that the only way to break the cycle is to break the rules--but has the protagonist come to the same awareness?

Through this work of realistic fiction Reynolds skillfully conveys the strong emotions and mindsets intertwined with the idea of a young black man being beholden to the edicts of his subculture, and hopefully this will be conveyed to readers. However, it must be acknowledged that there are those in modern society who can’t quite grasp this concept with its complexities and challenges; this is why this and other such books as windows to other experiences are needed. Likewise, Reynolds acknowledges in an author’s note that it is also intended as a mirror for the young people who might yet face a choice similar to Will’s, and those who already have. 

The free verse is effective in conveying the main character’s quickly-turning thoughts and emotions, as well as the brief nature of the setting, and the brevity required to make a life-altering decision. Language is not overly strong, with limited cursing and descriptions of death and violence, but more detailed information about guns and drug lingo. Thus the novel’s recommended audience of middle school and up seems appropriate, only slightly more mature than Reynolds’ Track Series. It is thoroughly appealing to reluctant readers, and all, twelve through adult, will be better for reading and considering the messages in this poetic work.