Jason Reynolds bought up all his own books from local DC bookstores and gave them to readers.
Jason Reynolds: two-time National Book Award finalist, TIME 100 Next honoree, and, apparently, real-life angel. Yesterday, for Giving Tuesday, the Look Both Ways and Ghost author let us know via Twitter that he’d bought the entire inventory of his books from local bookstores across DC, so readers could pick them up for free.
Said Reynolds to DCist, “These bookstores are glue for a lot of our communities, and if there’s a way for us to drive people there, then there’s a way for us to lift the community in certain ways, at least momentarily, which we could all use.”
We can all use this news amid the pandemics and attempted coups. Said Ramunda Young, co-owner of Mahogany Books, one of the shops Reynolds contacted: “[Reynolds is a] rock star for young adult books. [It’s] a challenging time for people . . . and for them to have opportunity to walk in and grab one of his books for free, I think it’s just so dope.”
Another bright spot to keep us going: Reynolds’s debut novel for adults, The Mouthless God and Jesus Number Two, is out from Scribner in 2022.
