Ain't Burned All the Bright (edition 2022)

Goodreads Review:
Prepare yourself for something unlike anything: A smash-up of art and text for teens that viscerally captures what it is to be Black. In America. Right Now. Written by #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds.

Jason Reynolds and his best bud, Jason Griffin had a mind-meld. And they decided to tackle it, in one fell swoop, in about ten sentences, and 300 pages of art, this piece, this contemplation-manifesto-fierce-vulnerable-gorgeous-terrifying-WhatIsWrongWithHumans-hope-filled-hopeful-searing-Eye-Poppingly-Illustrated-tender-heartbreaking-how-The-HECK-did-They-Come-UP-with-This project about oxygen. And all of the symbolism attached to that word, especially NOW.

And so for anyone who didn’t really know what it means to not be able to breathe, REALLY breathe, for generations, now you know. And those who already do, you’ll be nodding yep yep, that is exactly how it is.

This is an ultimately hopeful book about a generally dark time. It is a quick read, but you could also chose to spend a lot longer looking at the art and absorbing the way it flows with the text. Since the focus was the COVID pandemic and the protests surrounding George Floyd's murder, I had expected this to be a darker book—and, indeed, a lot of the images use dark colors. However, at the end, this is a hopeful book even in spite of the dark times it describes. ( )

The art/writing is fantastic! Reynolds & Griffin knock it out of the park with their collaboration. ( )

surviving 2020 and hope for what's next--BLM, COVID pandemic. Short fiction in verse (3 loooong sentences, in fact) with sparse text and full-color "moleskine journal" illustrations

terrific partnership of text and images, created by two friends during the pandemic, in hopes that kids might (a) not feel as alone, but especially (b) be inspired to record their own thoughts and stories. ( )

This book is a wonderfully illustrated piece of art. The color, the detail, the imagery are insanely well done! The story spreads hope and what it feels to be Black in America. Highly recommend. ( )