Book Club Summer 2025

This summer book club at the Literacy Council met for three sessions and engaged in the impactful story of Jason Reynold’s Long Way Down. It was a graphic novel powerfully illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff. It is a story of an urban youth who is tragically affected by the death of his brother through gun violence.  Reynolds’ direct but poetic language and amazing imagery was accessible to Intermediate readers and as well as Advanced students. We also listened to a video of an interview with Reynolds from the Kennedy Center.  It was enlightening how he wrote this modern-day Christmas Carol, choosing to cut down a novel sized work into the lean supple form of a poem. Family Ghosts visit the young protagonist, Will, and attempt to alter his perspective. They make him question the Rules that have guided his community for too long. The open end is a great opportunity for discussion, and the book club members engaged in a lively debate. 

We met on Zoom and the students and tutors engaged in open discussions on the many aspects of this award-winning book and its relevance to life in America today.   

We had an intimate gathering this time.  Members of the Book Club included the following students:  Y R., Rosilene, Jamila, Natta, Maria, Esperanza, Souleymane, and Nataliia as well as tutor Jill. 

The students were very enthusiastic about Reynold’s story and found belonging to the book club a great learning experience. Maria said:  I liked this book because it is different kind of reading. It is graphic novel. Seeing the drawings, I imagined the story as it happened, and the vivid descriptions made me feel like I was living that moment. I think the book invites us to reflect on how easily a gun is acquired and to change our understanding of violence, because it is a vicious cycle where violence breeds more violence. Violence is not always the solution. 

Another student, Y.R had this thoughtful response: “Long Way Down,” a graphic novel by Jason Reynolds, is not a normal style of a book for me to read.   Thanks, Ms. Catherine for the chance.  The protagonist, Will, was perplexed by the traditional rules in his community: “Don’t cry. / Don’t snitch. / Get revenge.”  “The rules weren’t meant to be broken. / They were meant for the broken to follow.” And, yet, the rules bring more misery and more death, but Will doesn’t know how to break out of it. Is he crying out for a help?  

Students from different levels came to the class and were able to experience the English language in a real-world setting. Nataliia had this to say: It was my first time to attend book club and before register myself I decided at first to practice some reading. I worried Book Club attendance is going to be hard for me. However, after I picked up the book Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, I realized it is a graphic novel what is good choice for beginning learners of English. The book was not only interesting, but also easy to read because the pictures were speaking to us as well. I am not very strong person in speaking English, but I am happy that I already can understand other English speakers. Thanks to the book club I realized the progress I made in learning English and I am thankful to the Literacy Council of Frederick County for that. 

Students in the book club were amazed to learn about the proliferation of gun violence in the United States and its detrimental effect on communities and whole families.  Rosilene shared her revelations:  The Summer Book Club with the Literacy Council of Frederick County was again a great opportunity to experience English in real life. As always, the book selection was interesting, allowing us to have a great conversation about the book and its cultural context. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is great, even though his audience is young readers, all of us can benefit from his writing style and message.  

Students were intrigued by the graphic novel format and were excited about the potential of reading other graphic novels.  They enjoyed Jason Reynold’s writing style and are also motivated to read other books by this author some of which are:  When I Was the Greatest, The boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys, As Brave As You, Ghost, Patina, For Everyone, Sunny, and Lu.   

Jason Reynolds is planning to visit Frederick Maryland on September 6th for the Baker Park Bandshell Read-A-Book Day. He will be available from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. and will meet with the book club members, sign their books, and answer questions about his writing process. Please come out and join us!

We have been holding the Book Club for several years now, and have read such books as The Distance Between Us: Memoir by Reyna Grande, Enrique’s Journeys by Sonia Nazario, A Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine, The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Parks, All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung, and anthologies: Coming of Age in the 21st Century edited by Mary Frosch and Coming of Age Around the World also edited by Mary Frosch and Faith Adiele, Christi Lefteri’s Songbirds and The Beekeeper of Aleppo, and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.  We are open for suggestions for our next Book Club meeting, which will be in December/January during the winter break.  Both tutors and students are welcome, but space is limited and is first come first serve. An announcement will be made in our upcoming class schedule for the winter semester.