Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel

by Jason Reynolds, Danica Novgorodoff (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The Rules. When his brother is shot and killed, Will knows he needs to follow them and get revenge. But can he? Jason Reynolds’ stunning novel-in-verse is taken to the next level when accompanied with Danica Novgorodoff’s evocative artwork. A powerful and heartbreaking look at teenage gun violence, Long Way Down will leave you breathless and speak to your soul. I challenge you not to finish this book in one sitting.

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. And there’s always someone else who knows to follow the rules...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534444959
Publisher:	Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	32,958
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	HL630L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Danica Novgorodoff is an artist, writer, graphic designer, and horse wrangler who lives in Kentucky. Her books include A Late Freeze; Slow Storm; Refresh, Refresh (included in The Best American Comics 2011); and The Undertaking of Lily Chen. Her art and writing have been published in Artforum, Esquire, Virginia Quarterly Review, Slate, Orion, Seneca Review, Ecotone Literary Magazine, and many others. She was awarded a 2015 New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship in literature and was named Sarabande Books’ 2016 writer-in-residence. She has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, VCCA, Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, and Willapa Bay AiR. Visit her online at DanicaNovgorodoff.com.

Editorial Reviews

*"Far more than just an illustration of the events of the novel, Novgorodoff’s iteration powerfully cultivates the tone and mood of its source material, demonstrating just how effective and artful comics can be."

starred review Booklist

*"Novgorodoff’s watercolors, which bleed at the edges like pavement stains, match the text in mood and fluency, and by putting faces to characters, they tacitly untangle the web of revenge killings and mistaken identities foundational to the plot."

starred review BCCB

"Reynolds has skillfully edited and rearranged his original verse novel to create room for Novgorodoff’s impressionistic ink and watercolor illustrations to flourish, resulting in an adaptation that feels authentic to its new comics format."

January/February 2021 - Horn Book Magazine *STARRED*

"Danica Novgorodoff has done a superb job of graphically capturing the gritty emotions of the original story—the anguish, the cyclical bloodshed, and the terror of the present situation."

Highly Recommended

November-December 2020 - School Library Connection

"In his YA novel Long Way Down, Jason Reynolds uses the painful past to reveal the difficulty between doing what you are taught is right and doing what is moral.

Danica Novgorodoff's ink-and-watercolor illustrations are a beautiful addition to Reynolds's lyrical text. A gorgeously illustrated reinterpretation of the novel."

November 17, 2020 - Shelf Awareness for Readers

★ 10/01/2020

Gr 9 Up—After witnessing the fatal shooting of his older brother Shawn, 15-year-old Will Holloman must decide whether to follow the rules of his neighborhood that require revenge. Armed with a gun from Shawn's dresser, Will boards his building's elevator and as it descends weighs the gravity of what he is considering doing, the loss that preceded Shawn's death, and the repercussions. At each floor, a new, deceased individual enters and tells their story. Smoky watercolors with rough edges bleed and blend into each other and into unblemished empty spaces in this graphic adaptation of the novel in verse. The all-Black cast of characters is given complexity and nuance, even as they try to live by a code that is figuratively black and white. A denim-blue and white palette depicts those who have passed, while inky black and grays illustrate both the oppressiveness of the neighborhood's rules and the weight of the anguish they inflict upon the community. Pops of color—red for blood and fear, the yellow of a grocery bag smiley face, police tape, and Will's T-shirt—are used sparingly but consistently, as reminders of life and obstacles that carry on past death. Much of the text is internal dialogue, including the conversations between Will and the elevator's occupants. Guns and death are depicted through a fallen body and the spread of blood. No curse words are used. VERDICT Reynolds's words paint pictures of their own in this tragic yet poignant illustrated tale that offers no answers to the seemingly impossible choices some communities face.—Alea Perez, Elmhurst P.L., IL

School Library Journal

★ 2020-08-18
After Will’s older brother, Shawn, is shot and killed, Will knows he has to follow the rules: Don’t cry, don’t snitch, get revenge.

The rules are so old it’s hard to know where they came from, but Will knows they are not meant to be broken. He gets Shawn’s gun and heads downstairs in the elevator to shoot Riggs, his brother’s former friend, who he is convinced is responsible. As the elevator door opens on each floor, Will is confronted by people from his past who were also victims of gun violence. They question Will’s plan and motivation, and although Will was certain it was Riggs when he first got into the elevator, at some point he isn’t so sure. The ghosts, their truths, and the fact that he has never held a gun before make the decision to enact revenge that much more frightening. Based on Reynolds’ 2017 award-winning verse novel of the same name, this full-color graphic adaptation will pull in both old and new readers. Novgorodoff’s ink-and-watercolor images bring a softness to the text that contrasts with the violent deaths and the stark choice Will faces. Reynolds’ fans will be pleased to see some of the original dialogue and narration remain, though edited to keep the story emotion-packed and the pace as swift as the elevator ride. Characters are Black.

A moving rendition that stands on its own. (Graphic fiction.12-18)

Kirkus Reviews