[music]
My name is Gene Luen Yang I am the national ambassador for young people's
literature welcome to the reading without walls video podcast today I with
young adult author Jason Reynolds who is also a National Book Award long lister
among many many other things you are starting to collect a
Jackie Woodson like collection of medals right now thank you I appreciate it it's
really impressive dude thank you okay coming from you I appreciate that
well so so I the first thing I want to talk to you about is All American Boys
which I read over the summer I read it right after the ___
there was a shooting in Minnesota and I was actually on my way to fly to
Minnesota I was like this world does not make sense to me I need to make sense of
it I'm gonna read this book I hope it worked a little bit It absolutely did
I've been recommending it to people ever since. But what I want to talk to you about
is how that book is structured in an unusual way. Right.
So how did that come about? Well so you know All-American Boy is co-written
obviously by myself in Brendan Kiely and then we wrote sort of wrote onto the
POVs in the course of a week right so one week each person gets one day and
the week the reason that we did it that way because we wanted to structure the
novel in the exact same way that like it's all based around Dr. King's
speech at those point why would you ever speak about the two Americans living
side-by-side and so our goal of the patient's separate story of two young
people who did side by side but did not know each other than with exactly five
specifically around the time nature and the way that we wanted to show that with
the show them side by side contractor each day with this deficit overlaps
everyone to their larger overlapping but they but they're never actually over
that Monday or Friday let's having the structures
and it wasn't hard for the hard to collaborate oh good
edye you guys were buddies before me and not only were we friends but we were
friends who built our friendship on this particular conversation so greater than
I've met right after the George Newman verdict
Trayvon cracker and once were together you know it's hard cause you young folks
are the adults always say you know when you get to begin a grown for a quote
you can't talk about religion or politics with other adult that you don't
now it's like a weird keep it rule and so here I am on tour with Brendan that
elope and all I want to talk about colleges because of what is happening
how that helps tie starts I think I didn't read us I think we're different
eventually presumes attention he was crazy and he was excited I was a
different anger but a minger than the left and we ventured down the rabbit
hole and we went all the way down the rabbit hole and he had the seriously
uncomfortable healthy conversation and we had those conversations every day for
six seven months micrograms and converted and that was
automatically so when it came to the actual process write the book it was a
piece of cake because we haven't had this conversation every day schwarber
Thompson Wow so really came out of our friendship the
whole book is based on our but I'll tell you quickly that we had three rules rule
number one no one can never remember it was at the control of secrecy our editor
didn't know our agent didn't know no one knew because we didn't want anyone to
influence but we don't want anyone in the industry
no offense to the industry close to talk habit number two if the book does well
we donate money to the organizations who are doing this work we cannot get rich
and bloodless number three if the friendship fail the book is a bust
even if the book goes on to be successful if the busting our eyes if we
can't keep the glutes well frigid attached as their entire book good place
to rent the safe space created for friendship to the flourishing closet and
he won a month left best and in most chairs ring so that hard part like I
tell you when I read that book I felt apart
bishop and now you're just a quick transition fuck amazing will let move
onto to go would you just not long with this is a
natural course office so great nothing specific so tell me how that never kew
about it but I attract team the motor chair is that that's a pole and also
your own experience okay array in a rated high school there and I remember
running the 800 in high school for like one year that I did shot with because my
leg through output I love tracking and I really want to
tell a different tale different sports story and we have so many when it comes
when a complicated color especially to the PDF export data versus basketball
courts are readily available about Amina jump and we cherish and honor our back
bar here writer that's the thing right Michael Joe is Michael Jackson Pacific
such an economy about we're young like you suppose or critique right and and we
had those sort of you know probably did it with crossover is like he has sauce
over I didn't want to add that I think the cuter TPT right now it is that is
he's got that he's got that covered and I wanted to sort of use athletics to
spin a different tale and I think who don't will be don't talk about us is the
concept the concept right because it's a community repellant and
and Laurie the concept of what it means to run and so what I wanted to do is use
the track as an opportunity to be the framework around rejected what does it
mean for a young person for us to run from to run toward to run it in the head
a right to run the family all of these are the things and I think that's what
should go but the tracks period as a whole is all about and goes in
particular is all about you know the concept of you can't run from people you
can't run from your would happen to you at some point we are going to have to
push through it and end track that's what running in general abilities is
about right you can you can't be afraid of the feeling of this country if you
want to keep in life because running is all about being okay being comfortable
with Sox's exactly that's literally what running is about I ran track read I know
I know so you know Carol this is il totally updated but that's now I know
it's about suffocation in the positive being safely publications and that's
that will be safe to go so now that both of your books on earth
come out of maybe a place of pain but also place a whole special that's Marty
told me a long time ago he knows my body cries all the time and
it never ever let don't judge them all right and I think that it goes both ways
I think that I think that pain and joy our human I prefer has the most human
elements the load code of life who we are and I think that it for me I've been
through my fair share my friends have been to their fair share and I just want
to make sharply and I know these kids out here today are going to they
appreciate and I want to make sure that isolation the trauma is equipment as
well as the child I don't want to create sort of wet for poverty that will make
sure that is a balance if you want he will would it mean freedom speech
every step do you have a ritual that you go through as a writer oh I'm early
really right now like how I get at six o'clock the Galactic thirty you know I
mean I'm up and I took when I'm not traveling which unfortunately or
fortunately I guess an Aboriginal chaplain lacking base but when I'm not
traveling I typically work about six or seven everyday which weighs between 5
and 15 you know and I from about 6:00 or 7:00
in the morning to about 2 o'clock in the afternoon I'm at the computer I'm
punching the key and it's not always fun and it's not always sexy if it's I'm
extremely brutal and reason and ruling but that's the process I don't not a man
good evening waiting for inspiration to strike the
faces of the crap attract yes and I practice every single day our faculty
because I recognize that like when you I'm fortunate enough to have all these
people that I look up to be close to your eyes are like I can forget where
you are in your career I'm like minute there's work to do I can look at Jackie
woods in Italy there's work like I had almost to learn
that's so much to me all under and so I my job is to work every day look better
and not just be better for me to be better for the community okay what kind
of kid with him you know what a balance beam I was I was definitely a kid right
how we have everyone in competition but I was about right so so so it's like
more than normal like every kid there's nothing on that
not not more than them but not more than normal class code so it wasn't like I
was you know crashing breaking windows right buddy
we were how would you live in a neighborhood with a bunch of friends and
we did neighborhood print stuff all right let's me go over here and do
this let's peek over they I do that it's like firecrackers often lower the street
it was just it was more so just trying to figure out what you genius periodic
which is what it is I was the very good my mother hasn't we're doing the version
of my life she think that I was like it right to you but I'm like holiday Fifi
for most of my life so problem is I'm in like a colles out the struggle the high
school struggle I did me I just didn't I could have done better
found more interested in all the social respectability why would I want to learn
astronomy when there are people sitting around me that I could learn well who
are they where they how are they allowed to divide who cares about the Stars and
I could learn about them I still do that we don't have to otherwise Nancy but I
feel so much speaking that sounds like a total writer and
trained exactly who would have all right here no see I'm just like I want to know
everyone that tell me so I can feel it great that they're the stars I can't
feel they're there it's mathematics you I could be your reaction to the
manipulation what was it we have a swimming pool there are the struggles
that you went through the hell I looks really helpful you know what may I tell
you I there were a lot of things are happening
my family
it's really never to looking back when a better time you didn't see that but
you're back you might say my cousin Roger or but at the time it's just like
yeah you know I even would say stuff like y'all know some of the retention
but you don't you don't process it that way the kid is like that's gonna go play
I'm just trying to hang out with her son you know I mean we're at her house
living around you know it what's gonna happen to the boy with the house when it
smell like but it's good it is mattered to me and it matters but those were
things that was going on and I got older he thought the process you like
differently are giving the thing in terms of the books though I mean there
was definitely there was definitely st. having life that I did it for sport but
the issue for me was always I couldn't the book tiny America and so I am in
enough proud of this that is my life right it's writing reading for folks and
I was ever away I didn't really belong so for me what the saving grace was that
I read I read that leered Howard by that age and I would open the liner notes and
I would read the rap lyrics that's how I sort of discovered that and I always
favors that fact to pocket Langston Hughes were more alike than different
and that Queen Latifah and my hands were more like been different and that I
could that I could see myself in and language
lexicon of to popular people more so than I could in the language before
Morrison more so than I could that language the properly and so instead of
me trying to find my way through to kill a mockingbird I'd rather just this is
the Public Enemy a sort of find my story between
what they were doing and do I decide to write poetry poetry with the way out for
me that was the sort of way to keep the pain out in expressions of people that
lost my having unfinished novel things and so they'll always buffer if you do
work it's always really collagen about the people habits of argument fascinated
with with language I mean my family had easy power at the funerals of my family
members when I was 10 11 years old and so for me it was all about watching
what a few words dude bring human family that's the first thing I learned was
there wait a minute you mean it's something that I could write popular
pain I think I feel a little bit better at least for the moment while you're
didn't agree for the look for 11 year old gentleman magic and other concepts
and that was good it probably then are 1718 a registeration that of the Pope
presume on diesel fuel that way with the one black boy was the only book that was
signed to me in high school but it's just for the night like I don't know
myself or seat oh yeah yes yeah how's that look amazing he's so amazing I
ended up doing my money in your paper in high school on dominating the head stop
doing it he nailed it so what is that one of the books we recommend and what
other way yeah one of the books do you think would have made it disappear
when you working as it had you been able to find water day my general and alone
his own land was because and everybody loved or seemed as monster like me the
gun landlord was more life-changing commemorated at 23 and 24 other
goddesses this was great because it was about king it was created it was good
urban and it was created in a way that like monster the story that I fell I
fell like I think right without my mom after what we got like this right
the young landlords all about these kids who inherit but slum building former
from a slum a bullet or a dollar and become landlords to a building and that
was something I had never heard and I thought he did a really creative thing
and it was incredible in the devil was a lot of really tough things we've done
with amount of really incredible smart funny creative things that you really
see in the neighborhood survival weapon and and that was the book that I was I'm
always saying but the jungle and loads of the base also just rewards savage the
bone to me one of the greatest books within the last decade and down of all
genres of all categories one of the greatest books written in the last
decade maybe only the top two but it was ever written to spark my brilliant story
about the scene or odd to say the storm before the storm which is leading up to
Katrina into little Mississippi and sort of I what was happening in the community
for fortune as we lead up into Katrina a masterpiece and evolved from the
protagonist the perspective of a young a young girl
and in the indie american-style all right I really depict in contemporary
American balance which we don't get off in the nothing here for the contemporary
American style story is something I'm really fascinated by and I think we
should probably push more for and we cannot connect America answer there I
mean I cry everybody connected with another Brooklyn that you need to
surround or email the whole look at you again the whole library all I'm ready
internal luxury anything with our name on anyone with a big data
yeah for sure look at motion Bob let me see it's amazing so so much man ok
knowledge Eemian records are you know in anything he did all face to face it
well I want to end with this this slot which you gave me which is the beauty of
words this mess maybe beauty worship thank you for my favor this and rental
appreciate you great thank you
haha