Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
January 1, 2020/in Fiction 10-14 Middle/Secondary /by bookskeeps
BfK Rating:
BfK 240 January 2020
Reviewer: Ferelith Hordon
ISBN: 978-1999642594
Price: £6.99
Publisher: Knights Of
Genre: Fiction
Age Range: 10-14 Middle/Secondary
Length: 208pp
Buy the Book

Look Both Ways

Author: Jason Reynolds

‘A tale told in ten blocks’ – in ten short stories we meet the pupils of the local High School who all live in these blocks down the road. Boys, girls, friends or not, as they walk they talk, dream, worry – or even imagine a school bus falling from the sky. Here young readers will see themselves reflected both facing very real situations or in their thoughts. We meet Jasmine and TJ as they walk and talk, their friendship a bulwark before a fractured home life; Fatima using lists to cope; Satchmo whose fear of dogs overwhelms him and others from their class and the Low Cuts, picking pockets…for what? This is the stuff of the everyday and here presented unadorned. The language is contemporary and colloquial, rich in the poetry and vocabulary of this school world. Though the setting is specific – an urban American High School – nevertheless the characters, their hopes, wishes, problems, anxieties and friendships are individual and universal. Young readers will respond to the personal truths that lie behind the lives of the characters who come spilling out of this school bus that has fallen from the sky – a clear metaphor to bind it all together. Adults may feel for the teachers who make the occasional appearance – nether ogres nor saints, they too are people – doing their best. This is an unusual and refreshing book that should find its way into every school library – and classroom.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/look-both-ways.jpg 499 329 bookskeeps http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png bookskeeps2020-01-01 14:29:002021-05-31 12:09:30Look Both Ways

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 272 May 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Margaret McDonald and her editors Alice Swan and Ama Badu win the 2025 Branford Boase Award

July 9, 2025

‘The magic of poetry by heart’ Champions of the 2025 National Poetry Speaking Competition Announced

July 8, 2025
IBC

New National Year of Reading launching January 2026

July 8, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Deeplight Bad Nana: Older Not Wiser
Scroll to top