Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help.
Chat with a librarian, Monday through Friday, 12-4pm Eastern Time (except Federal Holidays).
Learn more about Jason Reynolds' life, writing, and activities as National Ambassador through these Library of Congress resources and services.
Jason Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author, a Kirkus Prize winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award winner, a National Book Award finalist, and the recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, multiple Coretta Scott King Award honors and a CILIP Carnegie Medal. He was also the American Booksellers Association’s 2017 and 2018 spokesperson for Indies First. Reynolds’ many books include When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (co-written with Brendan Kiely), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks and Long Way Down.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in neighboring Oxon Hill, Maryland, Reynolds found inspiration in rap and began writing poetry at 9 years old. Over the next two decades, he published several poetry collections before publishing his first novel, When I Was The Greatest, in 2014. He won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent for this first work of prose. He followed this success by writing seven novels in four years, including Ghost, a finalist for the National Book Award; Patina and Sunny, part of his New York Times bestselling Track series; As Brave As You, winner of the 2016 Kirkus Prize, the 2017 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/Teen, and the 2017 Schneider Family Book Award; and a Marvel Comics novel, Miles Morales: Spider-Man.
Reynolds returned to poetry with Long Way Down, a novel in verse, followed by Look Both Ways, which was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award. His collaboration with Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, was released in March 2020. In 2021, Reynolds released the middle grade novel Stuntboy, in the Meantime; in 2022, he released Ain't Burned All the Bright (with Jason Griffin), a "smash-up" of poetry and art for teens. Reynolds currently lives in Washington, D.C. Find him online:
The following Library of Congress news releases provide more information about Jason Reynolds' activities during several National Book Fesitvals, and the announcement of his position as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.
Blog posts about Jason Reynolds' activities as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature are listed below.
The Library of Congress features several video recordings of Jason Reynolds.
The Library of Congress holds a number of books by Jason Reynolds in its physical collections. A selected bibliography of books by Jason Reynolds held in the Library of Congress's general collections follows below. Additional copies of books by Jason Reynolds are held in the Library's Young Readers Center.
You can identify additional materials about or by searching the Library of Congress Online Catalog using the following headings:
The Library's subscription databases, available only to on-campus users, include many articles, interviews, essays, and literary criticism related to Reynolds' life and work. If you need assistance locating resources related to Jason Reynolds in these databases or in our physical collections, please contact us using our Ask a Librarian service.
The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to online content are included when available.
Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You by 
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by 
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by 
Miles Morales, Spider-Man by 
The Boy in the Black Suit by 
When I Was the Greatest by 
My Name Is Jason. Mine Too: Our Story, Our Way by If you would like to contact Jason Reynolds please direct your inquiries as suggested below:
