Tuesday, May 15, 2018

For Every One

For Every One. Jason Reynolds. 2018. Simon & Schuster. 112 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Dear Dreamer, this letter is being written from a place of raw honesty and love but not at all a place of expertise on how to make your dreams come true. I don't know nothing about that.

Premise/plot: For Every One is a poetic essay on the meaning of life. Is that an exaggeration? Maybe. It is a motivational--though realistic and honest--piece on ATTITUDE and PERSPECTIVE. If attitude and perspective don't play a major role in how you define the meaning of life, I don't know what does. Reynolds' piece is above all grounded in reality yet saturated in hope or optimism. This essay is written in verse.

My eyes
are swollen with exhaustion,
my body sputtering
on its way down,
but my dream
won't stop crying,
screaming
like a colicky
infant.
Sometimes I think
it needs to be changed.
Usually
It just needs to be fed.
So I feed it everything
I have.
And it feeds me everything
I have. (52-3)

My thoughts: I read this one twice. I really, really liked it. I hope it gets some love from readers of all ages.

The book celebrates the journey that all dreamers find themselves on. It's a journey that most--if not all--can relate to easily. It is a book for everyone. But even the author acknowledges that not every single book is for every single person. There are many books on dreams, on dreaming, on pursuing your dreams, on pursuing this evasive thing called SUCCESS. Not every book is a keeper. I hope this one is a keeper.



© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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