Episode 57: Of all your books, which one do you think is your best? -with Jason Reynolds
Welcome back! Today we welcome Jason Reynolds to answer this kids question: “Of all your books, which one do you think is your best?” Great question!
TRASNCRIPTS:
Grace Lin: Hello, I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel, When the Sea Turned to Silver and the picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I'm here with Jason Reynolds, the author of many books including, Ghost, Long Way Down and Look Both Ways. Hi, Jason.
Jason Reynolds: Hey, how are you?
Grace Lin: Good. I'm so glad you could join me today.
Jason Reynolds: I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Grace Lin: All right. Are you ready for today's question?
Jason Reynolds: Let's do it.
Grace Lin: Okay. Today's question is from a person named Andrew. And Andrew asks-
Andrew: Of all of your books, which one do you think is your best?
Grace Lin: Of all your books, which one do you think is your best?
Jason Reynolds: Oh man, that's a tough one. Well Andrew, if you're going to make me choose, I actually think the best is ... Ooh, this is tough. There's a book called, As Brave as You, that I think might be the best one. And As Brave as You, I think it's the best because it moves a little bit slower but I get to build out this world of the southern parts of America. I'm in southern Virginia, I think is where it's based if I'm not mistaken and it's about brothers and their grandfather, who's blind. And it's about an adventure that they go on but really they don't really go anywhere. It's all just happening right there in the front yard of their grandfather's house. And there's a weird man at a flea market and there's a funny grandmother and a funny friend down the hill and it's all about the discovery of courage. And I think that's probably the best thing I've ever written.
Grace Lin: Oh, really. And is there another specific reason why you think it might be your best? Is it like the writing or the topic or the-
Jason Reynolds: I think it's the first book I've ever written in third person. And so, when writing in third person, you get to build out the world in a different way because there's this omniscient sort of figure, this thing that can see everything else. And it was the first time I'd ever done that. And so, I got to really dig into the beauty of the land and what was happening around them in a different way. And so, the language is just very, very different in that book. And also I think it's the most complex book. I think there's so many moving parts that had to coalesce in order to work. And it was the hardest book I'd ever written at the time. And I don't know, everything about it, the process of writing it, the way it came out, the characters, the language, it all just is really close to me.
Grace Lin: So, is it the book that's the closest to you? Is that the one that touches you the most or do you think it's best in terms of craft?
Jason Reynolds: Both.
Grace Lin: Oh, interesting. And you said that that's the first book that you wrote in the third person. Have you written another one in third person?
Jason Reynolds: In third person? Let's see, I wrote Spider-Man is in third person. Miles Morales, that's in third person. And I think, oh, And Look Both Ways. All of Look Both Ways is in third person.
Grace Lin: Ah yes, that's right. And then you also let out that this was the hardest book that you wrote at the time. So what's the hardest book now?
Jason Reynolds: Oh easy, Stamped. Stamped was the hardest, the newest book. But even before Stamped, I have to say, Patina, the second book in the Track Series after Ghost, that book was really difficult for me to write. And I think some of that had to do with pressure that I put on myself. I mean, at the time there were these weird rumblings in the industry around me, about whether or not I could write a young woman protagonist, a girl protagonist, which for me was kind of like, well yes, because girls are human. So sure, right? But I think the pressure of it really got to me when I was working on it because I wanted to stay away from stereotypes. I wanted to really do this young girl justice and write her ... Sometimes you read books and you feel like the author doesn't really care about the characters. And I think I wanted to make sure that this character was loved by the person who created the character, not just loved by the person who's reading it.
Grace Lin: Yeah. That's great. Well, so I get this question a lot, too. Like which one do I think is my best? And so my go-to answer has always been, my best book is my next one. And I always tell the story about how, when I first was trying to get my work published. And I remember I wrote this story that I thought was amazing. And I was like, "Oh, the publisher's going to love this." And I sent it to 10 publishers and it got all rejected. And I remember thinking like, "Oh, how could they not love this?
Grace Lin: This is so amazing, this story's so great." But it got rejected so many times that I just had to put it in the drawer and write something else. And then about five, 10 years later, after I'd gotten some books published and I was a much better writer, I went back to that drawer and I was like, "What happened to that story that I wrote that was so great." And I pulled it out and I started to read it. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, this story is so horrible. This story's terrible. I'm so glad nobody published it." And it was like the worst story ever. So I always tell kids that my best book is the next one.
Jason Reynolds: I feel like that's the right answer. I should probably start saying that. It makes more sense. I mean, it's interesting though because there have been books in my life where I feel like there are certain ... I don't know. The Boy In The Black Suit was another one where I'm like, "Man, that style of writing for me is ... I don't know where it is." I've moved on and evolved to other things and I'm trying to do other things. And I'm more ambitious in terms of language but whatever sweet spot I hit on that book, it's like, "Man, that was a moment." But I think you're right, whatever book is coming next would be the best book. Maybe not my favorite but it would be the best.
Grace Lin: Yeah. And I do think that there are some books that you're just prouder of, you know? Everything coalesces and it just feels like that book is meant to be. Whereas other books, at least for me, it feels more like a slog.
Jason Reynolds: That's exactly what it is, you know?
Grace Lin: All right. Well, thank you so much, Andrew, for your great question. And thank you, Jason, for answering it.
Jason Reynolds: My pleasure, my pleasure. Any time.
Today’s BOOK REVIEW by Sarah! She’s reviewing “Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit”.
Hello everybody,
My name is Sarah Mohsen and today I’ll be doing a book review about a book called Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit. The author of this book is Lilliam Rivera. When I saw the cover of this book, I wanted to read it straight away. The main character is Godie Vance. This book is about a detective who finds out that big celebrity Delphine Lucerne is coming to Crossed Palms Hotel (a hotel she works in as a parking attendant and as a detective in the making) to be filmed for a creature feature. Delphine is to wear a diamond cap during the movie, but suddenly, the cap goes missing, and the director jumps to conclusions that Goldie’s mother, Sylvie, who’s also an actor in the movie, stole the cap. Can Goldie find the real crook before it’s too late, or will Sylvie get arrested? I liked this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me guessing at every turn. I personally love mysteries, so this book was definitely a page turner! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries.
Thank you Sarah!
More about today’s authors:
Jason Reynolds is an award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author. Jason's many books include Miles Morales: Spider Man, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Correta Scott King Honor, and Look Both Ways, which was a National Book Award Finalist. His latest book, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, is a collaboration with Ibram X. Kendi. Recently named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jason has appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS This Morning. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
