Author Jason Reynolds visited Jefferson Elementary School today to talk with students about his books, his background, his process and more. He also answered thoughtful questions from students and shared some of his personal story to relate to students and inspire them to be in charge of their own stories.
“People always ask, what’s with the 26? What does it mean? All that means is that all the power that I have, all the power that you have, has everything to do with these 26 letters–A through Z. And with those letters, if we learn how to use them, if we learn how to arrange them in the right order, how to create different sequences and patterns, you can literally make somebody feel better about themselves, make somebody feel worse about themselves–which is what we don’t want to do–all of the magic spells in the world take place in 26 letters. Which means all of you have the same power I have. You’re here listening to me talk about this book, but the truth is, your power is exactly the same power I have because we all are using the exact same tools, which are just these 26 letters.”