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Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks | Jason Reynolds
34 posts | 31 read | 15 to read
From National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a novel told in ten blocks, showing all they different directions a walk 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.
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Karkar
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this book. I always feel like Jason Reynolds books are so much more than they are on he surface. He is most definitely an auto buy author!

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Booknerd2
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Pickpick

I adore Jason Reynolds!!! He definitely writes for older kids but there is so much he can teach adults!
I listened to this one and it revolves around a group of students and their stories of walking home from school!! 💜💜💜

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ImperfectCJ
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Pickpick

The ending isn't quite what I'd hoped for, but overall, I very much enjoyed this book. It gives me the feeling of being dropped among a group of middle schoolers (in a good way). Reynolds captures well the insecurities, hopes, challenges, embarrassments, and close bonds of that age. It's an age I love now that I'm 30+ years away from being that age myself.

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DGRachel
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Pickpick

This is the MG selection for my library‘s #communityread2021 and I found it wonderful. It‘s a collection of vignettes about students in a middle school, each tale about a different child or small group of kids, and their school day experience. They are complex and emotional. I love a book that can make me laugh and cry, that entertains and warms the heart. Highly recommend. 💖

Graciouswarriorprincess @DGRachel I have this in my TBR pile, moving up. Did you see Bookmarks festival is going to happen this year? 4y
DGRachel @Graciouswarriorprincess No, I didn‘t know that. Is that a Fall thing or a Spring thing (I can‘t remember)? (edited) 4y
SaturnDoo Oh I recently read this and that first vignette(I think it was) was pretty UGGHHH 😂.... 😞 😨 😩 Although this wasn't my favorite work by him, it was still an ok read for me. 4y
DGRachel @SaturnDoo I wasn‘t a fan of the boogers story but I loved all of the others 4y
78 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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ephemeralwaltz
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Pickpick

I startes this with the misconception that this was YA and it‘s more MG but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Reynolds weaves together 10 stories about 10 kids and what lies beyond the schoolgates on their ways back home, at home, and/or with their friends. It‘s worth noting author deals with some difficult situations without making it a book about black trauma. Some unexpected outcomes and endings had me smiling. Sensible, simple, very accomplished.

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SoManyBooksNotEnoughTime
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Pickpick

Reynolds' newest book is the compilation of 10 different stories taking place all around the same time on a series of blocks near a school. The students all attend the same school so the stories intersect in some ways, but each kid is unique. They're each dealing with their own issues & anxieties. It's a nice reminder that matter how big or how small, how well off or how poor, everyone has something going on that you don't necessarily know about.

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Lindy
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Pickpick

This isn‘t the usual hard-hitting Jason Reynolds. The writing is top-notch, as usual. These are short stories, only loosely interconnected, set during the time that middle school is finished for the day & students are walking to their homes in a big city. I found it at turns amusing, poignant, meh, & laugh-out-loud funny. When I registered the sentence on the back cover, the whole thing really came together for me. Every child matters. #OwnVoices

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Lindy
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I usually prefer UK cover designs but in this case I think the British cover misses the mark. The cartoony image gives the impression of an ensemble comedy. There are funny episodes in this collection, but poignancy and difficult situations too, and many of the characters don‘t know each other. The American cover gives a better sense of the randomness and also the diversity of experience.

TheBookHippie UK reminds me of fat Albert cartoon 5y
LibrarianRyan I agree but the think I don‘t like about the cover US is how it hides the ethnicity of the characters. 5y
Lindy @TheBookHippie I see that too. I think they are supposed to be the Low Cut gang in this book, four kids whose parents have cancer. They have an interesting coping strategy. On the US cover, they are shown just below the TH in the word Both. 5y
Lindy @LibrarianRyan I think every kid in this book is black or brown. Reynolds picture is on the inside of the dust jacket and I think he‘s well known to his young readers. 5y
50 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Lindy
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The illustrations in this tale told in ten stories are a lovely addition: they provide links between each one by proving glimpses of the next characters that will take centre stage. It‘s like one long illustration that we only see in segments. The artist is Alexander Nabaum.

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Lindy
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TJ always asked Mrs Bronson, the choir director, to let him sing solos even though his voice was all over the place. A set of wind chimes in a hurricane.

Cathythoughts Lovely pic 5y
43 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Tamra
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Mehso-so

Daughter 👍🏾

Son 🥱😴

Me 😐

Loved the mysterious bus thread. Most of the block stories have a serious life element my kids don‘t necessarily relate to, though the exposure is good, but isn‘t necessarily a hook. As always, Reynolds has an affirming message for young people.

Finally, the editing of the UK paperback edition is the worst I‘ve ever read. 😳 Rush print?

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cosmicv1bes
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Mehso-so

while the characters were interesting, it felt like there was not much of a plot. this book was recommended to me by many people and i had high hopes but this just didn‘t live up to my expectations. i would like to learn more about the specific characters and their lives in another book though, because i did like reading about the characters.

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EclecticReaders
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Exciting news!! “My mission is to take a different approach: Instead of explicitly encouraging young people to read, my goal is to get them to see the value in their own narratives — that they, too, have a story, and that there's power not just in telling it, but in the opportunity to do so. I‘m excited to create spaces around the country for this to happen —“ article: https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-20-002/?loclr=twloc

Suet624 I love Reynolds. Heard him speak at a tiny Vermont College several months ago and so appreciated how he encouraged the students. 5y
EclecticReaders @Suet624 He‘s an amazing, authentic speaker and person and is going to do some great things in this role! 5y
45 likes2 comments
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rsteve388
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Pickpick

This was an enjoyable and we'll written middle grade novel, I don't typically read that genre but I am very interested in growing my own understanding of Authors of Color.

I loved the way each of the ten short stories are interwoven, with characters from previous stories being mentioned throughout the overall book. I found these stories to be down to earth and real and loved the full cast audiobook!

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rsteve388
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Just started this story today on 12/26 there are 12 chapters, I am gonna hope I can get it done in three days.

#ReadingChallengeAudio

17 likes1 stack add
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Peddler410
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I gifted books to my family this Christmas Eve for #Jolabokaflod. I included myself since I missed the Litsy sign-up 😊

I had my book and my daughter‘s book wrapped at B&N to support the Illinois Deaf Association. That was Thanksgiving weekend, just enough time to forget which books they were. Tagged book is mine; I‘m a few chapters in and already know I will be rereading — and gifting — this book often 😊

Tamra I‘m hoping this will be our next read aloud! 5y
20 likes1 comment
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amma-keep-reading
Pickpick

i enjoy the way that he effectively communicates to adults the experiences of black and brown children and teenagers today.

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LiteraryinPA
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Pickpick

I always appreciate Jason Reynolds‘s books, and this one was no exception. Over the course of the book he describes 10 middle schoolers‘ walks home from school on the same afternoon. You get to see how their stories interact and what they love, are scared of, are dealing with, etc. Any one of the stories could have been expanded into a whole book, but this was an interesting format. I recommend it for any classroom library.

Nute This sounds so good. Will definitely be on the lookout for it. 5y
56 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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UnabridgedPod
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Pickpick

Jason Reynolds is just a phenomenal person. His new novel, Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, continues his run of books that I just can't wait to hand to *someone* in my life (in this case, it was my son, who's a seventh grader). This book, composed of linked but disparate chapters, spans the ten blocks of a neighborhood and the middle schoolers who live there. ⬇️

UnabridgedPod Each story is a little gift, unfolding to reveal something unexpected about a character or to provide a backstory for someone who appeared in a previous chapter. These children aren't perfect, but they're completely authentic and, most often, have something that redeems them from whatever faults you may see at first glance. Absolutely beautiful, thought-provoking, and KIND novel.⠀ 5y
15 likes1 stack add1 comment
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ChasingOm
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This photo perfectly describes my mood this morning: it‘s my first Monday back after vacation and the first thing I have to do is drive four hours for a meeting. 😂

Luckily, I have what should be an excellent audiobook (tagged) downloaded to get me there. 🚘

hermyknee I love that mug 😂😂👏 5y
Librariana I hear ya! Hope your audiobook is fantastic 😊 5y
ChasingOm Well, the second story had me bawling, so it‘s a good thing I wore waterproof makeup for my meeting. 😬 5y
See All 7 Comments
wanderinglynn You can use these for #wintergames as #TBRreads (15 pts per story) or #impulsereads (10 pts per story) if you use the hashtags 😉 5y
ChasingOm Thank you, @wanderinglynn! I was going to post once I finished the book — I didn‘t want to get points for a book if I wound up getting distracted by podcasts on my drive instead. 😂 (But I‘ll finish this book today, so — #TBRRead #WinterGames @Clwojick @StayCurious 😄) 5y
ChasingOm There are 10 stories, so 150 points! 😳 5y
wanderinglynn Awesome! 🙌🏻 5y
28 likes7 comments
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iamtoddseal
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Pickpick

In each story, Reynolds‘s writing comes to life to make things compelling. From capturing the humor in the tone of voice characters use to setting you up for one outcome just as things turn out differently, this is such a joy to read. If you‘re a writer, you‘ll see traits of Reynolds‘s craft all over the place. If you‘re not a writer, you‘ll simply get lost in each character‘s tale. Some are funny, some are sad, but all of them are worth reading.

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iamtoddseal
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“He looked back at her. And in a way that only grandfather and granddaughter could do, together Cynthia and Cinder split open and laughter poured out of them. A laughter free enough to make the bottle (of giggles) on the table rattle.”

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alvingregorio
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Mehso-so

Although I didn‘t grow up in a city, there was a lot of emotions I could identify with as a child growing up. The joy, pain, excitement, and fears of wanting to belong are even true in adulthood, though we work so hard to hide it. This book reconnects you to those feelings.

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NovelNancyM
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Pickpick

When I saw Jason Reynolds had a new book out, I had to order it for my school & as usual, it did not disappoint. There is humor, meanness, sadness, hope & love - all emotions kids feel as they try & figure out how to navigate through life. Though 10 separate stories, the details woven through them show that we are all somehow connected to one another. Our actions do affect others - even if we're not aware they do. Delightful read for MS readers.

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Econaghan
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On cloud nine right now!

crazyspine Woah! So jealous! Is this the B&N in Exton? 5y
Econaghan Yes!!! It was an awesome night! Laurie Halse Anderson was speaking with him. They‘re both amazing! 5y
12 likes2 comments
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WriterAtHeart
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Not that you can tell in the picture, but Laurie Halse Anderson and Jason Reynolds are in the sea of chairs speaking tonight. I cannot wait to say hi and get my booked signed!

Chrissyreadit Where was this? What an amazing opportunity! 5y
WriterAtHeart At a Barnes and Nobles in PA. It was awesome! 5y
43 likes2 comments
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TracyReadsBooks
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Pickpick

Love Jason Reynold‘s writing and this book about what happens after the dismissal bell rings is a fantastic story about life inside and, especially, outside of school. Some chapters are stronger than others—one even made me a little teary—but I enjoyed them all. A rich exploration of the inner lives of young people and a call to look deeper, see more, and to think about what it means to be part of a community. A great addition to the library.

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MsLeah8417
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I am loving this on audiobook!!! #jasonreynolds #lookbothways

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LibrarianRyan
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I love how none of Jason Reynolds books look alike (unless its a series).

Out Oct 7
#CoverLove
#MGedition

38 likes1 stack add
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Kelly
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Eager to sink into a new Jason Reynolds book.

17 likes2 stack adds
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MelissaSue81
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this collection of short stories about students at a school. Some of the stories were better than others, but all of the children are dealing with something that you might not know by looking at them. The stories are intertwined in that all the students attend the same school and encounter some of the others, but they really are separate stories. Definitely recommend for middle grade

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tjwill
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I met Jason Reynolds! Please overlook my swoony face. 😍 😁 #alaac19

Karkar He is amazing! 5y
Zelma His talk was amazing! 🥰 5y
49 likes3 comments
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kate_reads
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Pickpick

This year at #BEA, I had a goal to stand in as little lines as possible but ya gotta do it for Jason Reynolds 🤩

DivineDiana Love! 👏🏻❤️👏🏻 5y
25 likes1 comment
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TracyReadsBooks
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Jason Reynolds is a great author—we can‘t keep his books on the shelves at school—and I‘m definitely looking forward to his next book. Look Both Ways is out in October. EW has the cover and an excerpt. (I may be late on this...) Can‘t wait!

LiteraryinPA This is the first I‘m hearing of it, and it‘s going right on my TBR! Thanks! 6y
17 likes4 stack adds1 comment