It wasn't that the teachers were bad. From what I can remember, they were pretty good. It was about the selection of books. It was about not seeing my young life reflected back to me: my family dynamics, the noise and complexities of my neighborhood, the things I loved, like ice cream trucks and Kool-Aid.

Jason Reynolds

Categorized in : Me Good Life Family

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.

Jason Reynolds

grow yourself you change

Having a superpower has nothing to do with the ability to fly or jump, or superhuman strength. The truest superpowers are the ones we all possess: willpower, integrity, and most importantly, courage.

Jason Reynolds

fly strength courage integrity

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.

Jason Reynolds

feeling fire pet morning

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.

Jason Reynolds

queen black poetry love

'To Kill a Mockingbird' wasn't about me.

Jason Reynolds

about me mockingbird

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.

Jason Reynolds

me friends community language

People always say time heals. Time doesn't necessarily heal anything. It allows you to manage things. There are occasions where you feel the pain as if it just happened, but you know that it's a fleeting moment.

Jason Reynolds

moment you time people

The literary world has to compete with YouTube, Instagram, PlayStation, Xbox, Hulu.

Jason Reynolds

youtube compete instagram world

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

Jason Reynolds

everyone see know want

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

Jason Reynolds

never like you grief

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

Jason Reynolds

kid see noodles life

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

Jason Reynolds

say many things want

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

Jason Reynolds

better you exercise writing

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.

Jason Reynolds

words poetry reading time

Rap music was a savior to me.

Jason Reynolds

me rap-music rap music

We've always been told to pretend as if we're not afraid.

Jason Reynolds

pretend afraid been always

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.

Jason Reynolds

feel someone people world

The truth of the matter is that chess is not the game of life because life does not ever happen the way you strategize and plan.

Jason Reynolds

game you truth life

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.

Jason Reynolds

my-life truth-is truth life

It's hard to be what you can't see.

Jason Reynolds

see you hard