Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds

This is a collection of stories all set within a few blocks of the same public school.  Each of the stories are told in the voice of a student at the school and focuses on the drama that plays out as they walk home from school.  the main character in each story shows up as background characters in others. Some of the stories are super silly, while others are heart wrenching.  Most ring with at least a degree of hope and all of them feature, in some way, a school bus falling from the sky.

I saw Jason Reynolds speak at the ALA conference last summer.  His talk was my favorite of the whole conference. He actually started out as a rapper and his background is in storytelling.  He probably has the freshest, most authentic prose featuring the voices of urban teens of anyone I have ever read. This book got the most starred review of any last year, won a boat load of awards,  and they are all well deserved.  (208 p. 2019)