Top 33 Jason Reynolds Quotes

Sometimes it’s okay for careers to find you.

Boston is pretty infamous for race relations.

If a kid is reading a book about someone who looks like them but doesn’t talk like them, we stunt their growth by dissing them.

I love, loved, loved ‘We Real Cool’ by Gwendolyn Brooks.

The truth is, my life was made infinitely more difficult because I didn’t read any books. But I didn’t read any books. That’s my story. That’s my truth.

Hip-hop saved me. It gave me permission to use language in a certain way. It validated my community and my friends. It gave our slang a certain elegance.

I grew up around a whole bunch of girls, and one thing I realized is what they had on their plate was very different than what I had on mine. The things girls are made to be responsible for is a heavy burden – take care of your younger siblings, do good in school, have some extracurriculars. The pressure is intense.

Poetry has the ability to create entire moments with just a few choice words. The spacing and line breaks create rhythm, a helpful musicality, a natural flow. The separate stanzas aid in perpetuating a kind of incremental reading, one small chunk at a time.

I believe that every character is a setting, a world with moving parts, and on the other hand, every setting is, in fact, a character – a living breathing thing with personality and backstory. The way stories come to life, at least for me, is when these elements commune in relationship to one another.

The truths are universal: Every kid knows fear. Every kid knows family and friendship. Loss, love, laughter. Everything else is just detail.

Be not afraid of discomfort. If you can’t put yourself in a situation where you are uncomfortable, then you will never grow. You will never change. You’ll never learn.

All I want kids to know is that I see them for who they are and not who everyone thinks they are.

I write about six to seven hours a day, five days a week, unless I’m traveling.

The idea of the mask in any scenario has always fascinated me. Not only does it protect identity, it also allows one to hide.

All the academy will tell you that the language that is familiar to you is not appropriate. and that’s not to say that there shouldn’t be a standard, but when I come to school with my friends’ language, my grandmother’s language, the language in my mouth – you’re going to tell me that’s improper?

Queen Latifah was writing poetry. Maybe Latifah’s ‘Ladies First’ and Angelou’s ‘Phenomenal Woman’ are the same thing, a generation apart.

I just want young people to read my books and feel cared for, feel safe, feel like there’s someone else in the world who understands – or at least acknowledges – your existence.

When Black Lives Matter started, it was polarizing.

When I was a kid, I couldn’t see life outside ramen noodles and Kool-Aid.

One thing I wish I’d been told in school is that my language is valid.

The stories of kids who grew up in communities like mine weren’t being written about in many books for kids.

I read ‘The Young Landlords’ and felt almost a chemical change. What I realized while reading that book was that I could write in my voice, use my tongue, my language, my style, and write a story.

The feeling of self-discovery, for me, is perennial.

Writing is like any other sort of sport. In order for you to get better at it, you have to exercise the muscle.

Grief is like mending a knee. You can mend the knee and make it function, but the knee never actually heals.

I read tons of books, listen to music non-stop, watch as many movies as possible, catch a play when I can, art shows, concerts, bar talks – I just try to engage in art, which to me is everywhere, as often as I can because narrative lives in it all.

We all want to believe in the magic of someone knowing what we’re thinking.

Rap music was a savior to me.

There are so many things I want to do, so many things I have to say.

I’m writing all the books I wish I had when I was a kid.

It’s hard to be what you can’t see.

I wanted to be a poet. I fell in love with poetry around eight years old, but not through literature. Instead, it came through hip-hop lyrics and my obsession with reading liner notes. Queen Latifah’s ‘Black Reign’ is the album that stands out the most.

I have a hard time with people who say they write for children but they don’t really like children. I love children. I love talking with them.