Future 40: Meet Author Jason Reynolds

“The stories are kinda like my slam dunks. Except, I’m dunking words. In your FACE!” – Jason Reynolds

New York Times best-selling author, Jason Reynolds, has beautifully penned his way from cover to cover with original novels and poetry. As a National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature for his body of work, Ghost, Reynolds first was inspired by rap to fuel his curiosity for writing poetry. With an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/Teen on his bookshelf and a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent in his pocket, Reynolds writes for both a young adult and middle-grade audience. 

This January Reynolds was appointed the The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, a role created to raise awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to literacy, education and the development of young people.

Publishing his first novel in 2014, When I Was The Greatest the brilliant novelist went on to produce a list more of books in the following four years including As Brave As You (2016), a Marvel Comics novel Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2017), Patina (2017), and Sunny (2018). The creative returned to his poetic muse with Long Way Down (2017) which crowned him the Newbery Honor. 

He also co-wrote the best-seller, All American Boys, a novel inspired by the national firestorm over police brutality. It tells the story of two kids in high school, one black and one white, whose lives are forever changed by an act of extreme police brutality.