Jason Reynolds' Long Way Down is a 2017 young-adult novel about a fifteen-year-old who sets out to avenge his brother's fatal shooting and encounters several ghosts who make him question his resolve.
Written in verse and narrated by Will Holloman, a fifteen-year-old Black American, the novel begins with Will recounting how his brother Shawn was shot dead two days earlier. That night, Will represses his tears, remembering The Rules for dealing with the death of a loved one: no crying, no snitching, and get revenge by killing the killer. Will takes his brother's loaded handgun and sets out to murder Carlson Riggs, a local gangster who Will is convinced must have shot Shawn. However, the ghosts Will encounters in the elevator down from his mother's apartment challenge his certainty. Will is briefly reunited with a former mentor to his brother, a childhood friend, his uncle, his father, the man his brother killed, and Shawn himself. Each person died of gun homicide, and each challenges Will's commitment to avenging Shawn's death. The novel ends with Will admitting his uncertainty about whether he is doing the right thing as the elevator opens and the ghosts step out.
Exploring themes of grief, masculinity, duty, and revenge, Long Way Down depicts a Black American teen struggling to find justice in a community disproportionately affected by gun violence. The book was nominated for the 2017 National Nook Award Nominee for Young People's Literature, the 2017 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young adult literature, and the 2017 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for poetry, among many others. It won the 2018 Edgar Award for Best Youth Adult and the 2019 Flicker Tale Children's Book Award for Young Adults.
