Ain't Burned All the Bright

Ain't Burned All the Bright

Jason Reynolds

Jason Griffin, Illustrator

Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum, 2022

Unpaged

Grades 8-Up

Illustrated Poetry

Prolific author Jason Reynolds works with a collaborator to create a poetic response to the Summer of 2020. The unnamed narrator is in his home while his mother is glued to the violence on the streets on the television, Dad is in the bedroom battling COVID, Brother is deeply lost in a videogame and Sister is on the phone with her friend making plans to rise up and march. Our narrator can only sit and worry, frustrated that no one in his family is able to stop what they are doing. He reminds himself to keep breathing and that action and the hopeful illustrations on those pages in an otherwise depressing canvas keep the boy going.  Finally, he breaks through and the family stops what they are doing and pay attention to each other, only to slip back into their patterns and the cycle continues, yet our narrator continues to breathe--and hope.

Reynolds and Griffin capture what many of us were feeling during the summer of 2020. I also felt the darkness and couldn't break out of my negative cycle. Just when there seemed to be a light, the rug was swept out from under us yet again. The author and illustrator create a seamless piece of art that perfectly captures those feelings of the time from a young perspective. The poem is brief and presented with a few typed and collaged words per page. The illustrations seem to be painted in a notebook and are stunning, utilizing a careful palette of colors, rich textures and collage. Teen readers may not pick this book up on their own, although Reynolds's name on the cover will help it connect to an audience. Teachers will find this a useful tool for poetry units and, in time, it will serve as a slice of history. Themes include the mess that defined 2020 with a plea for the world to work together and care for each other. Although unpaged, the book is over three-hundred pages, yet can be read in less than an hour in one sitting. We are left with no easy answers, but with a sense of hope, a full green leaf, and, of course, remembering to breathe. Reynolds proves that he deserves all of the writing accolades he has received and Griffin has proved that he can hold his own working with such a strong talent.