How a Kid Who Didn’t Read a Book Until He Was 17 Grew Up to Become a Literary Star by Nora Krug

All it takes is the right book to get students hooked on reading or in Reynolds' case, a rap album with incredible lyrics.

Reposted from The Washington Post

By Nora Krug October 23 

Young Adult author Jason Reynolds (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Jason Reynolds can empathize with kids who don’t like to read: He was 17 before he read a book cover to cover. It’s a fact he’s shared with thousands of kids in classrooms and auditoriums across the country, as a cautionary tale.

“It’s not something I’m proud of. It’s not cool,” he told a group of seventh-graders in Stafford, Va. “The truth is, my life was made infinitely more difficult because I didn’t read any books. But I didn’t read any books. That’s my story. That’s my truth.”

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