Long Way Down
Jason Reynolds
About this book
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Jason Reynolds’s Newbery Honor, Printz Honor, and Coretta Scott King Honor–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel Long Way Down is now a gripping, galvanizing graphic novel, with haunting artwork by Danica Novgorodoff. Will’s older brother, Shawn, has been shot. Dead. Will feels a sadness so great, he can’t explain it. But in his neighborhood, there are THE RULES: No. 1: Crying. Don’t. No matter what. No. 2: Snitching Don’t. No matter what. No. 3: Revenge Do. No matter what. But bullets miss. You can get the wrong guy.
Why it was banned
Listed by PEN America's Index of School Book Bans as banned from libraries and classrooms in Clay County School District, Florida, during the 2022–2023 school year.
Censorship history
United States school ban context: PEN America's 2022–2023 index lists Long Way Down as banned from libraries and classrooms in Clay County School District, Florida, following an administration/formal challenge process. That is a concrete district-level removal of a widely taught YA novel about gun violence and grief. The case shows how schools can remove literature that helps students examine violence before they are asked to talk honestly about why violence happens.
Bans
| Country | Year | Reasons |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2024 | ViolenceRacial |
