52 pages • 1 hour read
Jason ReynoldsLong Way Down
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Important Quotes
“The worst part… / is the constant slipping / of your tongue / into the new empty space”
(Part 1, Page 6)
Will thinks about grief and how it feels for him. He describes how having a tooth pulled is most disturbing because of the hole it leaves behind. He compares this sensation of loss to hole left behind after Shawn’s death.
“I think she hoped / her voice would / somehow keep him / alive”
(Part 1, Page 15)
Will refers to Leticia in this passage, one of the earliest scenes in the novel. Shawn has just been shot, and Leticia weeps over his body in the street. Will describes her weeping as an attempt to him back, a way to channel her grief into a miracle.
“gun shots make everybody / deaf and blind”
(Part 1, Page 19)
Will reflects on the neighborhood’s impulse to avoid police interaction, even after a violent crime. He describes how even those who wept over Shawn’s body didn’t see or hear anything; they lie to avoid becoming a suspect or another victim.
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By Jason Reynolds
