After conducting this interview, I have determined that Jason Reynolds is not as crazy as his bio would lead you to believe. This can be surprising given that he’s coming off a resounding success with All American Boys and publishing a new book, As Brave As You, which is out today. But he’s really just a down to earth guy who happens to write about difficult subjects. At Y’All West, I sat down with him to talk about everything from how YA can be a safe space, to some of our favorite books, to what it means to tackle issue driven material. Here are some highlights:
On Today’s Culture of Diversity
Given that we were at Y’all West, Jason and I started talking about YA and how broad the diversity of books is. “Kids today have a much better shot at being whole than I did as a kid,” Jason remarked. He noted that kids today are free of the baggage that many in the previous generation had from their parents and grandparents, and that books are allowing them to break this baggage down by the time they’re in high school.
The Safety of Books that Tackle Tough Subjects
The subjects in Jason’s books are heavy, but its not something that he worries about. Jason, in fact, teaches an MFA class on the issue book. What I found interesting is that his perspective is that these issue books are just books about real life and people with problems. He just wants to give an accurate portrayal of some people’s lives in America. So when he deals with things like police brutality, he’s just looking at it from the perspective of a community that deals with it.
All American Boys
It’s probably surprising to most people when they hear about All American Boys that it wasn’t initially Jason’s idea. “I live in this body and so I don’t intellectualize it. This has been my experience…I’ve been to busy grieving and being mad to intellectualize it for the page.” But when Brendan Kiely came to him he knew it would be a good opportunity. The duo has since won a Corretta Scott King Honor Award and have travelled all over the country with the book. Jason remarks that when speaking to young people, he asks two questions: how many of you have heard about police brutality? how many of you talk about it? The answer to the second question is normally zero, which allowed him to see that this book could be a safe space to learn about these types of tragedies and understanding the intricacies of the system they’ve just gotten involved in.
On the Pressure Success Can Bring
Every book Jason has ever published has won an award or two, which can put some undue pressure on him as a writer. “It’s reallyhumbling and validating…it does [also] fuel this strange insecurity we all have.” Jason noted that he has a self battle when working on new projects and he constantly has to refocus himself.
Jason’s newest book, As Brave As You, hit shelves today and you can hear the full interview below: