56 Time November 25, 2019
ENTICING YOUNG
READERS
JASON REYNOLDS | 35
By Ibram X. Kendi
Jason Reynolds and I avoided
books like we avoided police
officers growing up in the 1990s.
Because we hated reading, we
were seen as the problem. But
the problem has always been the
books, not the children. Kids “don’t
actually hate books,” Jason says,
“they hate boredom.”
Jason is a leader in the popularmiddle-grade and young-adult
genres in American publishing.
He is becoming one of the most
treasured authors of our time for
ushering youngsters, especially
Black teens, out of the boredom,
and into lifelines and lifetimes
of reading. He’s publishing two
to three page- turners a year: the
latest, Look Both Ways, is a finalist
for a National Book Award. Judges
have showered his more than a
dozen books with awards; readers
have devoured them. At one
point, he had three works on the
New York Times best-seller lists.
Who does that?
Jason Reynolds. And ask him,he’ll tell you he’s just getting
started.
Kendi is a National Book Award–
winning author