Jason Reynolds Quotes (10 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

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Famous Jason Reynolds Quotes

“I don't expect it to be easy, but I'm certain it will be fruitful. 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.”

Jason Reynolds

As quoted in [Jason Reynolds Named New National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-20-002/jason-reynolds-named-new-national-ambassador-for-young-peoples-literature/2020-01-13/, Library of Congress, 10 March 2020, January 13, 2020]

“I love these kids. I’m just here to bear witness to their lives, because I believe that it is in bearing witness that everything is made real.”

Jason Reynolds

[McKenzie, Joi-Marie, Why Author Jason Reynolds Writes For The Youngest Generation, https://www.essence.com/entertainment/author-jason-reynolds/, Essence, 10 March 2020, February 12, 2020]

“It's hard to be what you can't see.”

Jason Reynolds

On becoming a writer despite the lack of role models in “How a kid who didn’t read a book until he was 17 grew up to become a literary star” https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/he-didnt-read-books-as-a-kid-but-jason-reynolds-wants-to-make-sure-your-kids-do/2017/10/23/ed4b55da-9d4c-11e7-9083-fbfddf6804c2_story.html in Washington Post (2017 Oct 23)

“People are like, "Well it's not standard English."”

Jason Reynolds

So what? Standard English is for standard people.

On writing for children in their own voices, as quoted in [Goncalves, Delia, 'I get to whisper to them, I love you', Jason Reynolds on writing for youth, growing up in DC and his mission, https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc-native-author-jason-reynolds-mission-writing-for-youth/65-ef42a5db-8423-4149-8f18-ae8e1f52d845, 10 March 2020, WUSA, February 3, 2020]

“Who else is there to write for, as far as I’m concerned. I’d rather go ahead and tap into these kids, who still are malleable, but who also have insight into things that we don’t know, with vision that we no longer have; who have imaginations that have already been zapped from us.”

Jason Reynolds

As quoted in [McKenzie, Joi-Marie, Why Author Jason Reynolds Writes For The Youngest Generation, https://www.essence.com/entertainment/author-jason-reynolds/, Essence, 10 March 2020, February 12, 2020]

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

Jason Reynolds

As quoted in[Rockey Fleming, Alexandra, Meet the Inspiring Author Who Writes Books He Wanted to Read Growing Up: 'Every Kid Knows Fear', https://people.com/human-interest/jason-reynolds-author-long-way-down/, People, 10 March 2020, October 24, 2017]

Jason Reynolds Quotes

“It totally matters to me that teenagers think I'm cool. I mean, teens keep their fingers on the pulse of culture. When things shift, it's usually because they shift them. They call the shots. So if teenagers think I'm cool, then hopefully they'll want to get down with whatever I'm doing. My hope is that reading and writing becomes the new "waiting in line to buy Jordans."”

Jason Reynolds

As quoted in [Garcia, Elisa, Get to Know Jason Reynolds, https://www.nypl.org/blog/2015/04/03/interview-jason-reynolds, New York Public Library, 10 March 2020, April 3, 2015]

Waiting , Thinking , Hope , Reading

“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 have a chip on my shoulder I pet every morning, a constant feeling like I have something to prove. Hearing that the canon can’t be diversified, there’s no room for more brown faces—that fueled my fire. I loved music that people said was not music, that it was too violent, too crass, too sexual. And now everyone in the world is rapping Hamilton.”

Jason Reynolds

As quoted in [Corbett, Sue, Jason Reynolds Is the Hardest-Working Man in Washington, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/74244-jason-reynolds-is-the-hardest-working-man-in-washington.html, Publishers Weekly, 10 March 2020, July 14, 2017]

People , Communication , Music , Way

“I’m proud of young black america. I’m proud of them, even if they are misunderstood. I’m proud of them for using their voices, their way. Racism, classism, fear, it all exists. Still. It’s here, embedded into the fibers of our society. But I have to be honest, I do believe that because of technology, no matter how problematic it can be, and the rapid spreading of information, I’d like to believe there is a slow awakening occurring, and that our babies, or at least the generation after them will have a very different reality here. I know my role is to do what so many have done before me in this tradition — tell the stories, unashamed and unafraid.”

Jason Reynolds

As quoted in [Brown, Lesley-Ann, The Graceful Power of Novelist Jason Reynolds, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/graceful-power-novelist-jason-reynolds-n399721, 10 March 2020, NBC News, August 22, 2015]

Way , Baby , Fear , Reality

“I get to whisper to them, "I love you, I see you, I know. I know you're scared, and it's OK to be scared, and if you can't be scared out there you can be scared in here. Within the pages of this book, you can be who you wholly are."”

Jason Reynolds

And perhaps that might be empowering enough to at least add a bit of significance to their lives.

As quoted in [Goncalves, Delia, 'I get to whisper to them, I love you', Jason Reynolds on writing for youth, growing up in DC and his mission, https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc-native-author-jason-reynolds-mission-writing-for-youth/65-ef42a5db-8423-4149-8f18-ae8e1f52d845, 10 March 2020, WUSA, February 3, 2020]

Love , Making love , Books