82 pages • 2 hours 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. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
“Be good to your family, y’all, no matter where your families are ’cause everybody needs family, y’all…”
It is no coincidence that Reynolds chooses a song by Bed-Stuy born and raised musician Mos Def to set the stage for a story based in a fictional version of that neighborhood. The quoted lyrics foreshadow that this is a story about the importance of family. Other lines from the song—like “To all the real soldiers, black people, We family y’all”—reinforce the message that family can go beyond biological ties.
“People say it’s bad, and sometimes it is, but I like to focus on the positives. We got bodegas on both ends, which is cool…”
Talking about his area of Bed-Stuy, Ali’s optimistic personality shines through. Rather than focusing on the more unsavory aspects of the neighborhood, he finds something, anything positive to talk about instead. Like any good New Yorker, he knows that having not one but two bodegas on his block is a definite highlight.
“I guess he didn’t hear me open the door, because he flinched, big-time, when I said, ‘Yo, man.’”
Noodles’s response to Ali’s innocuous greeting suggests that all is not well with him. Reflexively flinching like this can be considered an indicator of abuse and suggests that Noodles is constantly on edge. This makes sense considering the rough conditions of his apartment building, but it could also suggest that his upbringing and home life make feel unsafe.
By Jason Reynolds
Ain't Burned All the Bright
Jason Reynolds, Jason Griffin
All American Boys
Brendan Kiely, Jason Reynolds
As Brave As You
Jason Reynolds
Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America
Ibi Zoboi, Lamar Giles, Tochi Onyebuchi, Liara Tamani, Jay Coles, Renée Watson, Kekla Magoon, Justina Ireland, Tracey Baptiste, Dhonielle Clayton, Coe Booth, Jason Reynolds, Leah Henderson, Nic Stone, Brandy Colbert, Varian Johnson, Rita Williams-Garcia
For Every One
Jason Reynolds
Fresh Ink: An Anthology
Daniel José Older, Thien Pham, Melissa de la Cruz, Schuyler Bailar, Aminah Mae Safi, Eric Gansworth, Sharon G. Flake, Nicola Yoon, Walter Dean Myers, Sara Farizan, Malinda Lo, Jason Reynolds, Gene Luen Yang, Lamar Giles
Ghost
Jason Reynolds
Long Way Down
Jason Reynolds
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Jason Reynolds, Alexander Nabaum
Lu
Guy Lockard, 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
Raúl the Third, Jason Reynolds
Sunny
Jason Reynolds
The Boy in the Black Suit
Jason Reynolds
There Was a Party for Langston
Jason Reynolds