Lucco 1

Jacob Lucco

Mrs. Cramer

College Comp pd.1

19/11/2021

Murder Amongst Minors

Did you know that since 2009 gang related homicide has raised over 10%? A lot of

people never have to experience gang violence, but for those who live in large cities it’s an

everyday occurrence. A lot of young kids are brought into this dangerous lifestyle at a young age

and start with small petty crimes, and by the time they are adults could be selling drugs or even a

member of organized crimes such as racketeering (A type of organized crime where the

perpetrator is usually acts as an anonymous threat to the building and the group they are involved

with offers protection for a high price, failure to meet the price will usually end with a violent act

against the shop or even a homicide). There are a lot of programs that are built to keep kids away

from this deadly lifestyle like the YMCA which is made to keep kids and people healthy and

away from the mischief. In Jason Reynolds’ book Long Way Down he tells a cautionary tale of

Will’s experience with gang life through a unique, easy-to-read format.

Will faces many burdensome times due to the life his family has brought him into. For

example, He has grown up with no father figure due to his dad being in prison for robbing a gas

station. His father got out of prison and was kicked out of the house to not be a bad influence on
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Will and his older brother Shawn. After being kicked out of the family house his father was

killed by the gang violence, this was when Will was only three. Another challenge Will faced

was when his childhood friend Dani was shot and killed as a side effect of a gang related

shooting. “SHE BRUSHED HER HAND AGAINST MINE” as this quote proves this really hurt

Will because Dani was his first love interest and the day, she was shot was also the first time

they had kissed.

Furthermore, Will was also faced with probably the hardest hitting death of all, his

brother Shawn. Shawn was picking up eczema cream for his mother when he was coming home,

he was murdered in the parking lot where all his family watched the shooting occur. This made

will want to seek revenge and follow the rules that those before him have followed, such as his

dad, uncle mark, and brother’s best friend buck. These rules are an obligation to make things

even and not be soft or show any weakness, will compares the revenge rule to hand-me-downs

“BEEF. gets passed down like name-brand. T-shirts around here. Always too big”. Will doesn’t

want to follow these rules but feels he must, Will finds Shawn’s gun and decides to go to sleep

and think about what his next move is going to be.

The Long Way Down by Reynolds has a very easy to read format. This was intended to

make the book easy for most people to read. Reynolds does this because he wants the book to be

accessible and comprehendible for everyone. He does this so it will encourage and scare kids to

stay away from gangs and violent acts. The book is written in a way that reminds me of lyrics to

a song, verses in a poem, or the lines of a screenplay. This format is also very encouraging as it

feels like the reader is making progress through out the Three hundred and six pages of the book.

Reynolds wanted to craft long way down like this so people wouldn’t set it down to never return

to Wills story.
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Reynolds also uses words found in most people’s vocabulary and daily lives. He does this

once again as way to make the book much more comprehendible. The word choice by Reynolds

makes this book very easy to pick up and get into. The book is also very fast paced as well as

retains the readers attention very well, this is due to the lack of text on each page. This book was

written about such a serious issue in America, and the world, but still managed to be placed at a

reading level suitable for ages 11.

In conclusion, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds was written with the motive to keep

teenagers away from the violent life that comes with being a part of a gang. He does this by

giving examples of the grief that is caused to will from all the bloodshed while keeping the book

easy to read for most reading levels. Jason Reynolds wrote long way down to prevent kids from

getting hurt. He was motivated to do this because a friend of his was the victim of a homicide

due to gang violence after only nine-teen years of his life, this is less than a third of the current

life expectancy in the United States.

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Work Cited

Reynolds, Jason. Long Way Down. New York: Atheneum, 2017. Print.