Have you read Jason Reynold’s not-quite-certain-himself-what-it-is book, For Every One? I promptly bought the e-book as soon as I read the post that follows, an e-book because “right now! I can’t wait.” Today I’m reblogging because I understand why Mentor Wednesday contributor Brett Vogelsinger recommended it. It’s a resource sharing post, but it’s more. Only a few days remain in the month-long #SOL20; our writing lives our lives, will continue. Reynolds inspires.
For Every One explores the tough stuff, the difficulty of being a dreamer. It’s real and hopeful, a hand extended across an abyss, perfect for these times.
“It is only intended
FOR THE
COURAGEOUS.”
“We continually have to be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” Kurt Vonnegut’s quote heads my blog. Jason Reynolds talks about that same leap. Our cliffs may be different, but the leap is the same: “JUMP ANYWAY./ Dreams don’t have timelines,/ deadlines,/ and some aren’t always in/ straight lines.”
JUMP ANYWAY
Keep jumping, every one!
Writing poetry is a rite of passage for many teens. Some discover it on their own, crafting lyrics or daily musings in dog-eared notebooks. Some discover it in English class when a teacher invites them to write beside the beautiful words of published poets.
This year, when we returned from winter break to start 2020 together, we read the book For Every One by Jason Reynolds during a single class period. It is an extended poem — or as Reynolds describes it on the first page, “a poem in form only, a letter written in parts, an offering that I’ve now been working on for years.” I beamed to tell my students they had finished their first book of the year, a book that could also count as part our Poem of the Day routine.
Reading the book took about twenty minutes total — we listened to the audiobook while…
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Jump off; Find Wings 
Love the concept of jumping into the unknown and finding ourselves on the way. So many avenues open up to us when we don’t let fear hold us back.
We certainly need our spirits lifted at this time and poetry can do that in an amazing way and daring to dream…. is what I’m constantly telling my students to do, even if they are poor and their dad is a charcoal burner or a driver or has run away and they’ve never seen the sea or even a train, let alone a plane! Thanks for the encouragement to dream on…. and jump off cliffs. One of my ex-students actually got to fly in a plane paid for by her school to a science fair last year…!!