Look Both Ways, Jason Reynolds
Look Both Ways, Jason Reynolds
6 Rating(s)
List: $17.99 | Sale: $12.59
Club: $8.99

Look Both Ways
A Tale Told in Ten Blocks

Author: Jason Reynolds

Narrator: Heather Alicia Simms, Chris Chalk, Bahni Turpin, Kevin R. Free, JD Jackson, Guy Lockard, January LaVoy, Jason Reynolds, Adenrele Ojo, David Sadzin

Unabridged: 3 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/08/2019


Synopsis

One of AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2019!

UK Carnegie Medal winner
A National Book Award Finalist
Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
An NPR Favorite Book of 2019
A New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2019
A Time Best Children’s Book of 2019
A Today Show Best Kids’ Book of 2019
A Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2019
A School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book of 2019
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019
A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of 2019
“As innovative as it is emotionally arresting.” —Entertainment Weekly

From National Book Award finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a novel told in ten blocks, showing all the different directions kids’ walks home can take.

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.

About Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a 2024 MacArthur Fellow, a Kirkus Award winner, a UK Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, an Odyssey Award Winner and two-time honoree, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors, a Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was also the 2020–2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); When I Was the GreatestThe Boy in the Black SuitStampedAs Brave as YouFor Every One; the Track series (Ghost, Patina, SunnyLu, and Coach); Look Both WaysStuntboy, in the MeantimeStuntboy, In-Between TimeMiles Morales SuspendedAin’t Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); Twenty-Four Seconds from Now...; and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. His debut picture book, There Was a Party for Langston, won a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Betsy

This review was going to begin like all the best reviews. With a new Jason Reynolds books falling from the sky. “Falling from the sky” is probably a bit hyperbolic, but that’s what it feels like whenever a new Reynolds hits the market. Now due to the focus required of my job, I couldn’t care less wh......more

Goodreads review by Rosh

A wonderful collection of ten stories all set around a common theme of children walking home from school. The characters overlap in a few of the stories but the main character(s) are distinct for each tale. This isn’t a typical children’s anthology and these are the reasons why: 👉 So many authors ste......more

3.5 Stars Well there were some wonderful stories in this middle school book. My favourite one was where the kids were making money to buy ice-cream. That one hit me right in the feels. The characters are too young for a high school library in terms of curriculum levels for assessments, but I think so......more


Quotes

"Ten African-American narrators read these ten interconnected stories, and their performances are uniformly excellent, bringing the cast of characters to vivid life. Listeners follow the varied adventures of students as they walk home from school. In 'Call of Duty,' read by Kevin R. Free, Bryson stands up for a boy who gets kissed by another boy at school; in 'Satchmo's Master Plan,' read by Guy Lockard, Satchmo devises an elaborate escape plan in case the new dog next door gives chase. Author Reynolds's vibrant language, delivered by the narrator ensemble with style, makes every situation and detail—whether funny, outlandish, sad, or tender—feel genuine, relatable, and full of heart. Reynolds reads the final chapter himself, a poetic conclusion that connects all of the threads in this perfect middle-grade novel."