Staff Writer: Julie
Book Title: Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds with art by Danica Novgorodoff
Published Date: October 27, 2020
Number of pages: 208
Format: Physical Book
Genre: Teen, Young Adult
Tags: Teen, Graphic Novel, Contemporary Fiction, POC author, POC characters
Cardigan Rating: 4 out of 5
For January, the Staff Writers decided to do a “New Year, New You” series, where we read formats or genres that we don’t usually read. I chose graphic novels. I have tried some in the past, but they never really piqued my interest. I kinda cheated on this one, as I had read the book before, in its original form. It is actually one of my favorite books and my favorite by this author. I wanted to see if the graphic novel held the same appeal.
This graphic novel did. The artwork was great. It was done in watercolor, which gave an interesting feel to the story. I loved the blue and white pages highlighting the rules and memories, while the lightly colored pages told the story today. The short bits of text and bubbles helped, as the original book was written in poetry form. The story is of a teen who has decided to get revenge for the death of his brother by shooting the person he thinks is responsible. As he is riding down the elevator of his building, he meets the “spirits” of people in his life who have died due to gun violence. I did get even more out of the story having read the graphic novel. It might not totally change my opinions on graphic novels, but this is definitely a must-read in both forms.