Q 01/05

Which rapper's third album moved a nine-year-old Jason Reynolds to start writing poetry every day?

A) Queen Latifah

B) MC Lyte

C) Lauryn Hill

D) Roxanne Shanté

Answer · why

A) Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah's Black Reign was the first cassette Reynolds ever bought, and it convinced him that rap was poetry. He says he gave up reading books at...

Q 02/05

Most of Jason Reynolds's novel Long Way Down unfolds during a single ride in what?

A) A subway train

B) An elevator

C) A city bus

D) A taxi cab

Answer · why

B) An elevator

An elevator carries 15-year-old Will down from his apartment with a gun in his waistband, and a victim of gun violence from his past steps on at each ...

Q 03/05

Which TV series featured Jason Reynolds discussing his collection of rare books and literary letters?

A) Finding Your Roots

B) Pawn Stars

C) Antiques Roadshow

D) American Pickers

Answer · why

C) Antiques Roadshow

Antiques Roadshow had him on in 2021 to talk about collecting. His shelves hold an autographed first edition of Toni Morrison's Beloved and a pre-publ...

Q 04/05

Which bestselling children's author graduated from Bishop McNamara High School 11 years before Jason Reynolds did?

A) Dav Pilkey

B) Rick Riordan

C) Kwame Alexander

D) Jeff Kinney

Answer · why

D) Jeff Kinney

Jeff Kinney, creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, is a fellow alumnus of the school. Reynolds graduated in 2000 and went on to earn an English degree.

Q 05/05

Where was Jason Reynolds often standing as he drafted his first novel while managing a retail store?

A) At the cash register

B) In the stockroom

C) By the fitting rooms

D) At the shop window

Answer · why

A) At the cash register

At the cash register of the Rag & Bone store he managed, Reynolds wrote whenever business was slow, after graduate schools had turned him down over hi...