monday mini: For Every One by Jason Reynolds

I just have one mini today - For Every One by Jason Reynolds.



From Goodreads:


Originally performed at the Kennedy Center for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and later as a tribute to Walter Dean Myers, this stirring and inspirational poem is New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds’s rallying cry to the dreamers of the world.

For Every One is just that: for every one. For every one person. For every one dream. But especially for every one kid. The kids who dream of being better than they are. Kids who dream of doing more than they almost dare to dream. Kids who are like Jason Reynolds, a self-professed dreamer. Jason does not claim to know how to make dreams come true; he has, in fact, been fighting on the front line of his own battle to make his own dreams a reality. He expected to make it when he was sixteen. Then eighteen. Then twenty-five. Now, some of those expectations have been realized. But others, the most important ones, lay ahead, and a lot of them involve kids, how to inspire them. All the kids who are scared to dream, or don’t know how to dream, or don’t dare to dream because they’ve NEVER seen a dream come true. Jason wants kids to know that dreams take time. They involve countless struggles. But no matter how many times a dreamer gets beat down, the drive and the passion and the hope never fully extinguish—because just having the dream is the start you need, or you won’t get anywhere anyway, and that is when you have to take a leap of faith.

Source: Finished copy provided by the publisher via ALA18

My thoughts:

I have been wanting to try Reynolds books for a very long time. I picked up this book and Long Way Down while at ALA. At just over 100 pages, this was a perfect introduction to his writing.

For Every One is for all the dreamers...it's part poetry, part letter, with pieces of random thoughts thrown in. It's sparse yet heartfelt.

It reads a like an inspirational commencement speech; raw, beautiful and encouraging and the hardcover is gorgeous – making it the perfect gift for a graduate or someone just starting out or embarking on their dreams.

And I love this space that allows you to personalize and pass the book on to future dreamers...