Spring 2024

Jason Reynolds

Groundbreaking Storyteller

From the Series Gateway Biographies

  • Interest Level: Grade 4 - Grade 8
  • Reading Level: Grade 5

Jason Reynolds’s interest in hip-hop and poetry turned into a successful writing career.

The New York Times best-selling author has received a Newbery Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and many other accolades. People love reading his poetry, picture books, and novels. Reynolds served three years as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. He told students stories and passed the mic so they could tell their own.

Although he wasn’t a reader, Reynolds started writing at nine years old. Rap inspired his work. Reynolds’s poetry helped his family understand their feelings when they lost loved ones. It wasn’t until he was seventeen years old that he read his first book cover to cover. He thought books were boring and didn’t reflect his experience. He finally found books that were exciting and that spoke to him. Reynolds now writes thrilling books that young people enjoy reading. Learn more about the author and his work.

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Interest Level Grade 4 - Grade 8
Reading Level Grade 5
Genre Social Studies
Category 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Narrative Nonfiction, Biography, Diverse Books: Race & Ethnicity, Diverse Books: Social Justice, Diversity
Copyright 2024
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Lerner Publications ™
Language English
Number of Pages 48
Publication Date 2024-01-01
Text Type Narrative Nonfiction
BISACS JNF007030, JNF007110, JNF018010
Dewey 813/.6 [B]
Dimensions 7 x 9
Lexile 850
Features Bibliography/further reading, Index, Source notes, Teaching Guides, and Timeline

Author: Ty Chapman

Ty Chapman is the author of Sarah Rising (Beaming 2022); Looking for Happy (Beaming 2023); A Door Made for Me, written with Tyler Merritt (WorthyKids 2022); as well as multiple forthcoming children’s books through various publishers, and a forthcoming poetry collection through Button Poetry. Ty was a finalist for Tin House’s 2022 Fall Residency, Button Poetry’s 2020 Chapbook Contest, and Frontier Magazine’s New Voices Contest. He was recently named a Cave Canem fellow and holds an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Lerner eSource™ offers free digital teaching and learning resources, including Common Core State Standards (CCSS) teaching guides. These guides, created by classroom teachers, offer short lessons and writing exercises that give students specific instruction and practice using Common Core skills and strategies. Lerner eSource also provides additional resources including online activities, downloadable/printable graphic organizers, and additional educational materials that would also support Common Core instruction. Download, share, pin, print, and save as many of these free resources as you like!

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