I think that I've discovered that short stories aren't really my cup of tea. All of the stores were well written and relevant. I think there's a lot of situations that I could recommend this to kids at my library even if I didn't love it.

Absolutely amazing. One of the best writers of our time. I loved how every single character felt real. Every kid that was described was a kid I could have taught. Or would teach in the future. I loved the setting of the book - the uniqueness of the setting was wonderful.

A great combination of humor and serious topics. This book is sure to resonate with many kids as they read their way through the stories in this book.

Ah, Jason Reynolds. Reading a book by Jason Reynolds is like the perfect fall day after a hot summer. It is just what you wanted and needed as a reward for surviving the hottest of summers. You might not have realized you needed this book but you did and you are grateful it arrived to breath new interest into reading. These ten interconnected short stories are all about one day in the life of middle schoolers. They are different kids but all connected. As you read the stories you see how they touch each other. These are real kids too. They have problems and issues like everyone else, but they keep going. There are boogers and body spray and change thieves and everything else in between. Jason Reynolds has a way of writing that draws you in. It can be funny or serious but the cadence of the words is lyrical. I want to listen to this book aloud (preferably read by Jason Reynolds). It will definitely deserve the accolades it is going to get.

I cannot wait to share 'Look Both Ways' with our library's young readers. As he did in his 'Track' series, Jason Reynolds has created a community of characters that readers will instantly like. 'Look Both Ways' contains ten short stories of students walking home from middle school. Each group of students has a different focus or concern but many are common - fear of a neighbors dog, cancer in a loved one, and of course, boogers. This makes the characters instantly relatable, whether a reader lives in an urban setting as in 'Look Both Ways' or a rural setting. Reynolds' ability to create characters that are so realistic is why I think his books have such a strong appeal to middle grade readers. Each character is drawn so well that I suspect readers will be able to find similarities between the book characters and the readers' own friends or acquaintances.

One aspect of 'Look Both Ways' i realized as I was reading is that I suspect the books short story format will make is appealing to reluctant or struggling readers. The short, individual stories make it easy to pick up, read, and put down. For reluctant or struggling readers, this has great appeal since there is not a sustained narrative to have to digest and keep track of to reach the end of the book. For readers whose reading is limited to 20-30 minutes of reading in school during silent reading time, 'Look Both Ways' is an good choice. Because of the strength of each story and the appeal of the characters, even those reluctant or struggling readers will get hooked and want to keep reading.

Personally, I cannot wait to get 'Look Both Ways' in to the hands of our library's middle grade readers. It will be an easy title to book talk and will be snapped up by those who have read any of Reynolds' previous books. Many thanks to the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read an advance copy of 'Look Both Ways'. The title is on order for our public library and I'll be purchasing a copy for my own personal library. It will be well read and loved for a long time.

Jason Reynolds is a master of meeting his young audience where they're at in an engaging, respectful way. He's got one of the strongest voices in MG lit right now, and it's awesome to see another strong title my patrons will be clamoring over!

Jason Reynolds has written ten short stories that turn out to be interconnected. All of the stories follow students from the same school and what their lives are like after the bell rings and they head for home. A unique look at the interconnectedness of lives we may normally assume are unrelated. Brilliant!

Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds is an upcoming short story collection that y'all are going to need to read. This is my second Jason Reynolds book (the first being Long Way Down), and I"m absolutely amazed how he crafts words to tell stories. This is ten stories (one per block) of students as they walk home from school. What impressed me most about the stories was how he was able to change the tone with one sentence. You could think you knew the characters and direction of a story, and then in a moment of magnificence, words changed it all. It was absolute brilliance. Sometimes I struggle with short stories because there's not enough there for me to feel connected. Y'all, this is not that. There are ones that days later I can still recall because they were so wonderfully told. Some of these are stories of the everyday - variances of the realities of middle school we all know, while others peel back layers to reveal challenges these kids are navigating. With those challenges, there's a wonderful heart to these stories. It's this depth that makes these stories that form a connection. I also really liked how there were threads that tied these stories together. They were very subtle moments, but that also made this a cohesive collection. Overall, this is another wonderfully written piece by this author. This author is masterful with how he uses words in such a unique way, and I will continue to devour anything he puts out into the universe. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this October release!

Look Both Ways is another stunning book by Jason Reynolds. As in his other stories, the characters of this story are complex and raw. Each voice will break your heart as you cheer for them to overcome the challenges that they are facing in their lives. Jason Reynolds has a gift for speaking truth and adding real emotion to his stories. Many students today will be able to see glimpses of themselves as they read the words of this story.

Review copy: Digital ARC via Netgalley

Jason Reynolds has crafted a connected series of short stories. Some cross over and others are moving parallel to each other. As usual, Jason has introduced readers to some amazing young people. They have things to say and I loved listening to them. They had distinct voices that made me want to be in their school. As always, Reynolds has a way of reminding me as an adult to be aware of what I do or do not say and what I do or do not do with the children I work with and my own children too.

I would definitely recommend this one to anyone. It would be an especially good read aloud. Highly recommended.

Love, love it! It describes what happened one day in ten different stories. The way that Jason Reynolds write immediately pulls you in the story. He has a way that attracts kids to see themselves in the kids he writes about. Kids with real issues, be just like with Ghost, the person reading it just want to learn more about the charachters. For me, each character kept me reading, and I for sure can't tell you wich character is my favorite.

In “Look Both Ways,” Jason Reynolds gives us a glimpse into the lives of Middle School students just trying to get by, we get to know Candace, who gets through her pain by telling jokes and putting on one person shows, her single mother is always working and her grandfather, her best buddy, now suffers from dementia. Then there is Gregory who has hygiene problems, he wants to talk to a special girl, and his friends come through to help him out. These are just a couple of the stories of friendship and the angst of Middle School. I would recommend Jason Reynolds books for Upper Elementary and Middle School readers interested in contemporary realistic fiction.
#ARC #NETGALLEY

Look Both Ways by the amazing Jason Reynolds is a bit of a departure from Reynolds’ other middle grade works (like the Track series) only because it’s a series of vignettes. The authentic, real-life quality, the well developed personalities of the characters, and the enjoyment factor are all still classic Jason Reynolds. The short stories all center around kids in the same neighborhood, on the same day, and the stories are loosely tied together. The idea of perspective is key. The fact that each of us walks our own road and has our own struggles and successes is something that I think will really hit home with middle school kids.

Highly recommended for school libraries and 4th-8th grade classroom libraries. Would also make a fantastic read aloud and mentor text for writing workshop in upper elementary and middle school classes. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to a digital review copy.

Look Both Ways is a fun look at 10 different groups of students and what happens after the bell rings at the end of the school day. It's a great reminder that everyone is going through something different, even though they may share something in common, like going to the same school. There are many great conversation starters in this book for children of all ages (and the adults that love them).

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Not everyone is a fan of short stories, but I think it takes a great deal of talent to effectively introduce characters the reader cares about, establish conflict, and develop an interesting plot in just a few pages. Jason Reynolds deftly does all three in Look Both Ways.

The book is made up of ten chapters involving students as they walk home from school. We realize quickly that there is so much more to all of the young people in these stories than what may be seen on the outside. The book deals with some heavy topics like bullying, loss, sexual awareness, Alzheimer's, anxiety, and more. I believe the topics may be a little too heavy for elementary school, but this is a perfect book for middle school.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

It is going to be interesting getting student reactions to this book. On the one hand, they love Jason Reynolds. On the other, they don't love short stories (I have no idea why). This book combines the two, loosely threading the life of several students in middle school. It's one day in their lives, in just a few hours, during their walks home. Block is a story, separate from the others and yet tied together by the fact that these students all attend the same school and share teachers and some of the same route. Will my readers see this as a whole, or as ten stories? I can't wait to find out.

eARC provided by publisher.

This was another quick, but great read from Jason Reynolds. This is like a short story collection, but all the stories are related. Each story is about a young person (or group) that walks home from school in the same area each day and the different things that happen to them or that they struggle with. It helps show diversity and definitely compassion. I think I will be able to get many of my students to pick this one up, even those that aren't normally interested in books. Jason's writing style is perfect for those reluctant readers and his characters are so relatable for many people.

I enjoyed this collection of short stories about students at a school (I imagine it as a middle school/junior high, though I don't know that it was expressly stated), Some of the stories were better than others, but all of the children are dealing with something that you might not know by looking at them. All of the children are well intentioned and perhaps misunderstood. The stories are intertwined in that all the students' attend the same school and encounter some of the others, but they really are separate stories, there is nothing big really tying them together. I would definitely recommend this for middle grade audiences.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this title for review. All opinions are my own.

I am a huge fan of Jason Reynolds, and this book was no exception. My only (small) complaint is that it is vignettes. While I loved them, and their compellingly/deceptively simple storylines, I really wanted them all to be their own book. I loved all of these characters and the short snippets I got to see of their lives didn't feel like enough for me. I wanted to be able to spend more time with them all, to see what happened in the next 15 minutes, three days, two weeks of their lives. There was so much to them, and getting these flashes left me wanting so much more from them.

BUT, the beauty of the vignettes was their interconnectedness. All of the characters interacted in the same plane-they were all leaving or going to the same school, walking the same paths, seeing the same sights. And no two of them saw it the same way. Highly recommend this for Jason Reynolds fans, readers who like realistic fiction, and those emerging readers who want something meaty without being overwhelmed by a long storyline. Definitely a first purchase for most middle school and YA collections. Recommended for grades 7-12.

Jason Reynolds is the master of the middle grade novel and can do no wrong. Let’s get that clear first of all. He’s my favorite writer in this genre and always will be. Look Both Ways was nostalgia at its finest. You can tell it was written from many of his own childhood memories due to the specific details and pictures he created in your mind. I teared up several times and LOLed as well. Each story was connected but I felt like each one could be its own novel if he wanted it to be. I will be booktalking this one with my students sooooo much when the book releases in October. Thanks to Netgalley for providing this ARC. All opinions are my own, but seriously: read Jason Reynolds. He’ll change your life and kids’ lives.