^B00:00:13 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:00:42 >> Marie Arana: Whoa! Oh my goodness, what a bright, energetic crowd. Wow! Good morning! >> Good morning. >> Marie Arana: Buenos dias. >> Buenos dias. >> Marie Arana: All right. A good shout for a little sit is probably a good idea. Good morning to all of you. I'm so glad you're here. By the way, do you know where here is? Where are you? ^M00:01:02 [ Inaudible Comments ] ^M00:01:04 All right, all right. Say it a little bit louder. ^M00:01:07 [ Inaudible Comment ] ^M00:01:09 All right. Welcome to the Library of Congress. My name is Marie Arana. I'm the literary director here, and it's such a pleasure to be here working on this wonderful program in collaboration with the Children's Book Council and Every Child A Reader, who are our partners in this, and we're very proud to be a part of this fabulous program that's been running now for many, many years. I think it's 10 or 11 years by now, and it's my pleasure to introduce someone who not only manages this extraordinary institution but also has a special appreciation for all of you, for young people in general, and has a deep understanding of how young people think and what they like. So, please join me in welcoming the 14th Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden. ^M00:02:01 [ Applause ] ^M00:02:06 >> Carla Hayden: Okay. Well, good morning. I have to tell you, and you've already seen me go up and down the steps because I am very excited. On the way in on the train this morning from Baltimore, I started thinking about this program, and I said, we are going to have two of the coolest authors in the world. I even-- ^M00:02:41 [ Applause ] ^M00:02:47 And when I got to work, I had to change my outfit because I said I at least have to step it up a little bit, but that's really what's so exciting. So, I want to thank Marie and just to tell you that it is just a remarkable time, and it's wonderful to see this beautiful auditorium filled with so many beautiful young people. So, thank you for being here because you represent our future. Now, I wouldn't be doing my job as a librarian in the Library of Congress if I didn't tell you that books and reading saved my life. They were my salvation. They helped me through good times and bad times. They made me feel that being a nerd wasn't so bad. And they just helped whenever I needed some help. And so, that is why the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Program was created. The ambassador travels all over the country spreading the word about reading and why it can help you in so many ways and just give you so much pleasure as well. And I can tell you, true confession, I would not be standing here today without books and reading. I often talk about an experience I had, and this is going to tell you how long a book that was written in 1946. Now, I wasn't born then. [laughter] Is there some skepticism here? However, I had, I loved books and reading, and I told you they meant so much to me, but until some, there was a librarian, I can't remember her, but when I came in, I was seven years old, in Jamaica Queens, and I went into that storefront branch, and she put this book in my hand. It was called Bright April, and it was about a little girl who was brown like me and who had pigtails and who was doing all these things, and it was the first time I saw myself in a book, and even though I read a lot and looked at it, I'd never seen me. So, when we think about our authors today, think about books being windows on the world but also mirrors as well. Now, we have a lot of people who, and I think Ms. Marie asked how many of you have been to the Library of Congress before. Could you raise your hands if you have? Okay, we'll, we're going to change that. Well, we have a lot of programs for young people, and the National Book Festival is held every year, and we're having our 20th anniversary, and one of our rock stars today will be there signing himself. We also have schools here, and I've asked you to do this. So, let's see if you can out shout each other. And as the librarian, you have permission to be loud in the library. Okay. Now, Jason Reynolds attended Bishop McNamara High School. ^M00:06:09 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:06:17 I think Mr. Jefferson heard that, and this is the Thomas Jefferson building. Okay. How about St. Stevens and St. Agnes High School? ^M00:06:29 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:06:33 Chip DC Aim Academy. ^M00:06:35 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:06:39 Washington International High School. [cheering] Steward Hobson Middle School. [cheering] DC International High School. Ida B. Wells Middle School. [cheering] Alice Diehl Middle School. We're on a middle school roll. St. Patrick's Middle School. Come on, middle schools, you're going to be in high school soon. Roosevelt High School. [cheering] You see, middle school, you're going to do that. Richard Wright High School for media and journalism. Dunbar High School. Eastern High School. Balloon High School. ^M00:07:25 [ Cheering ] ^M00:07:32 Thank you, thank you. Because you should know that that's what it's about. So, I am going to turn the program back over to Marie Arana, our literary director, and we're going to keep making noise. ^M00:07:49 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:07:55 >> Marie Arana: Oh man, you guys had a little exercise. Lung power is great. I love it. Our next speaker comes from an organization that created the national ambassador program with Library of Congress. Children's Book Council executive director, Carl Lennertz manages the association that has partnered with us since 2008. He is also executive director of Every Child a Reader. Carl is a long-time, very distinguished publishing executive and book advocate who joined the CBC in 2016. Will you please welcome with your very big lung power, Carl Lennertz. ^M00:08:32 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:08:42 >> Carl Lennertz: I've got to follow that? Oh my god. I come bearing gratitude and gifts. One gift right away [inaudible]. >> Awe. >> Carla Hayden: It's [inaudible]. ^M00:08:53 [ Applause ] ^M00:09:02 See, she was much prettier, but I thought, wow, look at her. Thank you so much >> Carl Lennertz: You're welcome. ^M00:09:10 [ Applause ] ^M00:09:15 I have more gifts, including being on time. You didn't come here to hear me talk, so I'm going to go pretty quickly. Gratitude and gifts. I'm so grateful to the Library, Marie, Anya, the staff. You guys are wonderful to work with. I'm so grateful for Jacqueline and Jason. I have a few more things to say in a minute. For all of you here, thank you. All of you watching at home by livestream and from your offices, we have a lot of people, 10 times, 100 times, watching from elsewhere on livestream. There's like one big field trip today, right. A little break from school and work. Except for the library, they're working like crazy today. We've got people who came from Milwaukee in the house, Florida, New Jersey East Orange, Brooklyn, New York, New England, Connecticut. Anybody else from further away? All right. Pretty good travel plans. I am so grateful for the Ambassador selection committee, who is here today. DC independent book sellers, and for that matter, independent book sellers everywhere, you are essential. I get choked up on independent book sellers, I'm sorry. I'm also grateful for librarians and teachers everywhere here and watching at home. ^M00:10:26 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:10:32 I was a small town kid who hung out in the library in town and in the school library, and like you, it saved me. I am grateful for First Book, Just Us Books, Quelle [phonetic], We Need Diverse Books, Open Book, Brown Book Shelf, and other organizations here and working every day to spread the joy of reading. Thank you all. ^M00:10:52 [ Applause ] ^M00:10:58 Our first ambassador, John Chess was supposed to be here, but rookie move, he took a plane today, like who flies the day of an event like this. His plane was cancelled. I had a joke all set saying, John, your first medal is made of bubblegum, man, it's not that great. The new medals are beautiful now. I'm grateful for my colleges at Children's Book Council and Every Child A Reader, Shayna at home with Theodore, louder, I get emotional. Ryan and Jenna working at the office, get back to work. [inaudible] boards of directors for the CBC and Every Child A Reader here and supporting our work every day. I am grateful for every children's book publisher in America, 100 plus, who have donated their money and time to the ambassador program for over 12 years now. We wouldn't be here without you. Thank you. ^M00:11:42 [ Applause ] ^M00:11:48 I'm winding up. And of course, I'm very grateful for Simon and Schuster, Jason's publisher, who have mobilized everybody to come together on this, you know, [inaudible] Penguin, McMillan [inaudible], everybody pulls together on this, and we are here to do the good work that you are doing. Okay. Gifts. Everyone's getting a book, even adults love getting books. ^M00:12:07 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:12:14 We have lots of books at home, getting a book, you know, that's from, that inspired you or whatever, so [inaudible] for you, and I also have a signed Toni Morrison Beloved from my library. >> Carla Hayden: Wow. [applause] >> Carl Lennertz: Marie, who I've just met, I googled famous Peruvian novelists, and they're almost all men, so what's up with that. So, I found a classic from 1904 about a Peruvian journalist and human rights advocate, and I have a copy of that for her today as well as It's 100 Years of Children's Week posters, 100 Years of Artwork, all right. And announcement, [inaudible] Kate DiCamillo, the fourth ambassador, just did a poster for us. She's caught reading a book, and we have posters for all the classrooms in America. Thank you, Kate. Were also doing one for Catherine Patterson, who was the second ambassador. So, John Cheska, Kate DiCamillo, Catherine Patterson, Jackie is here, Jason is here, there are two more ambassadors I haven't mentioned yet, but Jacqueline, for you I have the book inspired you, the 50th anniversary edition of the outsiders, which inspired Miracle Boys, and another copy of Toni Morrison signed. >> Thank you. >> Carl Lennertz: You're welcome. ^M00:13:23 [ Applause ] ^M00:13:29 Thank you for your work and travel away from family, away from your writing. You taught us a lot about what we could do better, so we'll do that. All right. I'm coming down to it. Here it is. Jason, I've got your books by the other two ambassadors, Walter D. Myers, Young Landlords, a Library binding, good for the shelf. And Gene Yang's Shadow Hero. We love comics, we love Gene. Do you have a comic book collection here? >> Carla Hayden: Yes, the largest in the world. >> Wow. >> Carla Hayden: Just saying. ^M00:13:57 [ Applause ] ^M00:14:01 >> Carl Lennertz: So, I have books as thank you because they're tangible, they're real, but the intangibles are back to gratitude and gifts. Jason, thank you, we're grateful for you and your gift of love and compassion. That's it. I'm done. >> Carla Hayden: Carl. ^M00:14:15 [ Applause ] ^M00:14:20 Let's give a shout to Carl. Carl, thank you so much. ^M00:14:23 [ Applause ] ^M00:14:28 Such thoughtful and meaningful gifts. You took time. So, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I want to start with my introduction to the person who has been the National Ambassador for Youth, young people's literature for the past two years with another piece of gratitude to my young adult librarian, Ms. Deborah Taylor. ^M00:14:54 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:15:05 You may not know, but Deborah Taylor was the librarian who said, you know, there's a young lady, Jacqueline Woodson. She writes and it's magic, she said. It's magic. And then, Jason, whoa. And she just was the person who introduced me to such, just a new world, and Jacqueline Woodson has won more honors than I can mention, and I'm just going to give you a few. Four-time Newberry Honor Medalist, a Coretta Scott King Book Award winner, a National Book Award winner for her memoire and verse, Brown Girl Dreaming, and during her two years as ambassador, Jacqueline Woodson traveled nationwide discussing her theme, reading equals hope times change. What's your equation? And she encouraged young people to think about and all of us to think about what about beyond the moment and the moment we're living in and the power we possess and the ways that reading can demonstrate how to create the change we want to see in the world. So, Jackie, I know young people across the country have been inspired by your work and your words as well as your personal interactions with so many all over this country, and we just want to thank you so much for being the best ambassador that we could have and, when I bring her up, she put her life on hold for young readers, and your example for future ambassadors, but also for being like the coolest. So, Jacqueline Woodson, come on up. ^M00:16:54 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:17:18 >> Jacqueline Woodson: Thank you. I was just asked if this was a bittersweet moment to be passing on the torch to the most fabulous Jason Reynolds, and until you all stood up for me, it wasn't a very happy moment. It still is a very happy moment. I want to think the Library of Congress and Dr. Carla Hayden for helping me on this journey. The Children's Book Council that went above and beyond, Carl and Shayna, who is not here because she's home with her new baby, right, and everyone at the Children's Book Council, let me whine and complain and ask for help and ask for books, and my publisher, and my editor, Nancy Paulsen, who really supported me. This position takes so much support. As ambassador, one thing we want to do is basically spread the gospel of reading and how important it is to our lives and the many ways we can take in content, the content of literature, that reading books is fabulous. My son reads differently, so my son always has an audiobook in his hear. And it's most of the time Jason Reynolds. And when it's not Jason Reynolds, it's Kwame Alexander. So, but he's constantly talking about literature and the books he's reading, and as ambassador, I've been traveling the country from Alabama to Alaska to Africa outside of the country, talking to young people and having them talk to me and really gathering and finding out about their lives and the books they're reading and what they're hopes are for this country, for their futures, and for the futures of their children and their children's children. And it has been magical. And what you see here is the ending of something, me ending as ambassador. What you don't see is the beginning. When I was a seven-year-old, when I was a 10-year-old struggling with my own reading, when I wrote my first book and people were like, you wrote a book? When someone published my book, and people were like, someone published your book? And when I did one of my first readings, which was at Enoch Pratt Library, where Debbie Taylor invited someone who very few people knew her name, and then many years later, Enoch Pratt chose Miracles Boys as a All City Reads. And it was, again, through the support of people who saw me, who helped me get on this journey to finally be ambassador. And in Africa, I met with a group of Ejab [phonetic] girls, who were telling their own stories in a program where they met on Saturdays and were able to read, to write, to rap, and to talk about their futures in a very oppressive situation. In Alabama, I went to a juvenile home for boys that was predominantly white and had an amazing library, and as I was telling Jason earlier, as I was leaving, all the guys, who we had engaged, we had had a fabulous time, started giving me this upside-down okay symbol. And I was like, okay, they really like me. They're giving me the okay symbol, and later on I found that that's not what it was, that they were actually giving me another kind of symbol. And I thought to myself, well, okay, this is what you have right now, and I still see you. And I think the role of the ambassador is to go around the country and see people and let you know how much you all matter to us. We love you all so much, young people. You are going to save us, and I'm sorry you have to save us. I know the truth was that adults were supposed to save you, but we jacked it up. You all know we jacked it up. And this is where you come in. And speaking for all adults, I'm sorry we jacked it up. And I'm so glad that you're here and you're changing the world, and you're so bad ass. I know I'm not supposed to say bad assistant in the Library of Congress, but you all are so bad ass. And I love you so much. So, in Alaska I met with whole bunch of indigenous young people who were reading everything from Kate DiCamillo to Walter Dean Myers to [inaudible] to Jason Reynolds and to Rita Williams-Garcia, and I love the fact that our books were there, and our books were there not always because young people could afford to buy them but because publishers had donated those books, because the CBC had made sure books got into the kids' hands, because of First Book, because of We Need Diverse Books. So, this is all to say that we can get the books to you. We can get the books in your hand, and the people who are interested in getting an ambassador into their space, that can happen. So, because we want it to happen, and we want to find all kinds of ways to make it happen. We're not here to make a lot of money as an ambassador. You do not make a lot of money. You do this work because you love the work, and you do this work because you feel like there's a way you can create change. So, ambassadors, more than ambassadors, we're activists. We're trying to create change. We're trying to have the conversations that are going to move this country and this world forward somehow. And it's been a great great reign. The other day I came home, I had done my last thing in Brooklyn at a Title One school, and I had put my bag on the front bench. And my medal was sticking out of it. And I left my bag there. I know I should have put it away because I have a huge poodle German Shepherd mix that likes to chew things. I came back and the ribbon of my medal had been completely chewed off. And that was a sign from the family that Jackie, you need to say you're behind home now and pass this torch on. And so, it is with great delight that I take this medal off and pass it on. Thank you. ^M00:24:04 [ Applause ] ^M00:24:17 >> Carla Hayden: Thank you, thank you again, Jackie, and also, we are just breaking all kinds of rules in the Library today. We're saying things. We're doing things. We're yellowing. I'm loving it. And you should know too that Jacqueline Woodson will be still active in the next year and so at the Kennedy Center and the New Reach. She's going to be an ambassador there. So, she will be in the area, and you will still see a lot of her. So, thank you. ^M00:24:46 [ Applause ] ^M00:24:51 So, what can I saw about Jason Reynolds that hasn't already been said? He is a rock star. Yes, he is. He is. He is. He is. And for someone, he's someone who has people lined up, and this is what rock stars have, for hours just to meet him. And his connection with young people is immediate and intense, and I know that you will feel the same way when he steps onto this stage. He was born right here in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Rap music inspired him, and so he began to write poetry when he was just nine, and he focused on poetry, and he said, I'm going to ask him about this, he never fully read a novel from cover to cover until he was 19. ^M00:25:57 [ Inaudible Comment ] ^M00:25:59 Seventeen. Oh, he's trying to get a few more years in there. Okay, okay. Seventeen. He wrote his own first novel, When I Was The Greatest in 2014, and he has won the Coretta Scott King, John Steptoe Award for New Talent with his first novel and seven more novels followed in the next four years, including Ghost, and two more books in his New York Times best selling Track Series. As Brave As You published in 2016 won the Kirkus Prize, the NAACP Image Award for outstanding literary work, on and on, more and more awards. And his latest book, a National Book Award finalist, is Look Both Ways, A Tale Told In Ten Blocks, from [inaudible] of Simon and Schuster. And with us from Simon and Schuster are Lauren Hoffman, vice president and director of marketing and publicity. Lauren. Yay. [applause] Lisa Moraleda, director of publicity. And I just want to thank a moment to thank the entire Simon and Schuster publishing team including your president and publisher, John Anderson. They have made it possible for all of you in the audience to have a signed copy of Jason's new book. ^M00:27:24 [ Applause ] ^M00:27:29 And gratitude is also due to Dollar General Literacy Foundation for supporting this event and also during his term as national ambassador, Jason will visit small towns across America. Through his program, Grab the Mic, Tell Your Story, he will discuss his journey from a reluctant reader to award-winning author all the while empowering young people to share their own personal stories. And speaking of stories, I have a very special clip for you. It's going to be shown. It features Jason Reynolds and his mother in a StoryCorps interview. The interviews at StoryCorps are a store here at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress, and Jason, though, is not new to StoryCorps because in this brief clip, he talks about not only what he did in StoryCorps but also the influence of his mother, Isabelle Reynolds. Play the clip. ^M00:28:35 ^M00:28:42 >> Jason Reynolds: My mom, she's definitely my angel. I have fond memories of being a child, and the first thing that she taught me to say was, I can do anything. I had to say it every night before I would go to bed. You know, whether I said, you know, the Lord's Prayer and all of that, it was of importance. You know, she's much rather me just say, you know, I can do anything. She drilled that into my head really early in life. So, when I was going through my confusing years of high school, and I was ripping and running, and I was cutting up and acting a fool, I think she always knew, he'll come back. And so, looking back on it, it's like, wow, I may have been one of the luckiest guys to have a mother who was so open minded. She never told me to hold in my words. She never--if I had a problem with something, she'd say, express it. You know, never mute yourself. >> After StoryCorps, do you have an idea of where you want to go next? >> Jason Reynolds: I want to be a writer, and that's my ultimate goal, man. I want to shock the world. That's my ultimate goal, but in order for that to happen, I got to live. >> And through StoryCorps, that's a way of, you know, seeing the life. >> Jason Reynolds: Constant inspiration. I really believe that every person walking this earth has a story. Everybody has a story that could change the outlook of life for somebody else. [music] ^M00:29:51 [ Applause ] ^M00:30:01 >> Carla Hayden: And so, we asked you to make noise before, but I really want you to make noise for Jason's mother, who is with us today, Ms. Isabelle Reynolds. Please stand up. ^M00:30:13 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:30:21 Ms. Reynolds, stand up! Come on, stand up, Ms. Reynolds. Come on. ^M00:30:28 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:30:39 Thank you, Ms. Reynolds. ^M00:30:41 ^M00:30:48 Now, before we hear from Jason, his friend and colleague, Jackie Woodson would like to say a few words. So, come on back up. ^M00:30:59 [ Applause ] ^M00:31:03 >> Jacqueline Woodson: When we were trying to decide on who this torch would get passed to, I couldn't think of anyone else. I've known Jason for many years now, and one thing I know is he has a deep integrity and passion, and he talks to young people in a way that you all can hear him, and he listens to you in a way that makes me extremely proud. And I've learned so much from him. And everything from his presence in the room, to his voice, to the books that he's written, to what he has to say, to the fact that he wants to go into rural communities and go where the young people are means so much to me. And I am so deeply proud about this moment, and I absolutely love Jason Reynolds. So, take the mic. ^M00:32:02 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:32:06 >> Carla Hayden: The moment we've been waiting for, please welcome the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Mr. Jason Reynolds. ^M00:32:16 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:32:48 Now! Now! ^M00:32:50 [ Applause and Cheering ] ^M00:32:55 Now. You just go [inaudible]. >> Jason Reynolds: Good morning. How you all doing? Everybody good? All right. So, I'm going to, this will be just a moment, I'm going to say a few things. First and foremost, I want to thank the Library of Congress and Dr. Hayden and the CBC and Every Child a Reader, Simon and Schuster, of course, my mamma, and my family, who's here, and of course all of you. It's an honor to be here. It's an honor to receive such an incredible responsibility, and that's what it is. This isn't an award. I know people are like, oh you got an award, man, congratulations on your award. It's like, it's not an award. It's a role, it's a responsibility, and I'm going to do my very best to make sure that I uphold it and make something of it. Really quickly, I want to share two very quick stories. I was, years ago, I think I was in like West Palm Beach or in some sort of, a marginalized small town, in an auditorium in a school. I think it was a middle school auditorium, and I always open it up after my talk, I do a Q and A like everybody does, right. Before my Q and A, I always say that the young people can ask whatever they want. Of course, the teachers get a little uncomfortable immediately, right. But I'm always kind of like, no, no, no, there's no inappropriate questions. There's no stupid questions. Let the young folks ask anything they want to ask, and I'll navigate it. Every single time I've done this, which is, you know, three times a week, right, there's some young person who's like, yo, can you rap, right. And in this particular case, it was a young girl. She's like, yo, can you rap for us. And my response is always the same, it's always, yo, can you rap for me, right. Now, usually, what happens is you either get a kid who is like, yeah, and then I'm like cool, come up here, and you can make it happen, right, which happens. Or you get a kid who is like, no, no, no, then I say, see, then I ain't doing it for you, right. You know, that's how that works, right. But this particular case, the girl says yes, and I'm like come on up here, and she's like oh, nah, nah, nah. And I'm like, no, no, come on. If you want me to put on a song and dance for you, you come up here and you see what that's like, right. Put on a song and dance for me. So, she comes up to the stage, and she's a little shy. I give her the microphone. I'm like, you're a rapper, right. She's like, no, I got balls, like, you know, I'm with it, you know. I'm like, all right, I'm like well here's your chance. And she's stood with the microphone, and you could see her shaking, and just as I'm about to take the microphone back, because I also don't want to traumatize this person, right. She sort of says, you know, hey, or yo, or something, and she could hear her voice reverberate around the room. And then in that moment you could see her like begin to swell, right. Just to hear her voice loudly and to hear it sort of bouncing off her friends, bouncing off the walls, the people in the back of the room, bouncing off her teachers, to hear her voice largely outside of her own body was changing her in front of everybody. And in that moment I realized, this is it, like this is the thing. You know, maybe it's not that young people are, I mean, you all know all the things that adults often say about you, right. Maybe it's none of those things. Maybe it's that young people honestly just don't know yet what it feels like to know that that their voices have power. Right. That their voices can move and change a room, can shift the temperature and the climate of a country and can literally knock the world off its axis, maybe young people just don't know, and maybe that's because we're not doing, we as adults aren't doing a good enough job at letting them know and creating spaces for them to do so. We're not giving the microphone to you to say, go ahead, say your thing, sing your song, do your dance, talk your talk, tell your story, right. So, that you know, I ain't go to worry about everything that's happening externally. The thing internal is just as powerful. Right. The last story I want to tell you, very quickly, because I had to also check myself when it comes to this. I remember talking to Jackie years ago, Jacqueline, sorry, Jacqueline, you know, formal, informal. Right. I remember talking to Jacqueline years ago, I think we were at an awards ceremony or something, and I had gotten some award, and I had the utmost respect for her. She's one of my heroes. She's my OG, right, just somebody that I look to for help and for guidance, for the route, right. This is what I'm supposed to be doing, step back to this step to get to wherever it is that she is, right, that is, you know, we all need a mentor in our lives, and I look at her as a friend but also as a mentor. And so, I go to her this one day, and she's congratulating me, and for some reason, I feel the need to tell her, I just want you to know like even though I got this award and I'm doing all right, I'm never going to be better than you, right. Because that's what we do as a way to honor our people, right. It's like, yo, I just want you to know, I feel like I'm doing a good job, but I'm never going to be as great as you. And so your position on the top of that mountain is safe. I'm never going to be able to pass you. And I'll never forget her sort of squinching up her face and looking at me and said, I guess you think that's a compliment? And of course, I'm like, yeah, like I'm telling you, you know. And she's like, it's not a compliment, man. Why do you think I've worked so hard for the last 30 years for you to not pass me, right. Is that what you think? You know, your job is to do all I've done in half the time, and to push it forward. And so I want to say as I take a seat is that Jackie, [laughter] I will do what I can to push the line, to take what you've done over the last 30 years, to take what you've done over the last two years. And to take that and use it as a seed to make it bigger, to reach more young people, and to truly honor the work you've done for us, the collective we, by doing the very best that I can by us. You have my word, all right. I appreciate you all. Thank you for this. Let's get to work. ^M00:38:48 [ Applause ] ^M00:39:01 >> Carla Hayden: So, now I get to interview you a little bit, because we're going to go back to that 19 or 17 and reading and what was it about books that it, you were 17, and that was the first time you had read a book cover to cover. >> Jason Reynolds: Right. >> Carla Hayden: You'd been reading. >> Jason Reynolds: Sort of. >> Carla Hayden: Yeah. >> Jason Reynolds: Sort of. >> Carla Hayden: But what was it about that book, and what book was it? >> Jason Reynolds: It was, first of all, did you all see the picture of me when I was 22. Crazy, right. Wild. You know, I got to shave, you know what I mean. You know what? It was Richard Wright's Black Boy. That was the book. And [applause] yeah, and the reason, the reason that book did so much for me honestly had nothing to do with the story itself. It had everything to do with on the second page of the book the main character burns his mother's house down, on the second page. And I was like, word, this is what I'm talking about right, right? Because really, and the young folks in the room, you know this, right. It isn't that everything thinks we hate to read, and what it is is that we hate just being bored. And reading can be mad boring sometimes. Right. Sometimes, like that's a truth that we don't ever want to talk about because it's passé to say, especially in a library, but the truth is, is that some reading, if it's not the thing that's connecting to us, if it's not something that's sort of sinking it's teeth in this, if it's not something with some intensity or some stakes from the outset, it can be a little dry. >> Carla Hayden: And sometimes in the past, reading specialists and people in reading would say, well, it's almost like eating broccoli or brussel sprouts. You've got to finish it. And it's like, well, but I don't like it. But no, you got to finish it. So then, you're like, I hate reading. >> Jason Reynolds: Sure. And using that same analogy, because I'm glad you brought this up, because brussel sprouts, right, like the worst vegetable ever in the 1980s. >> Carla Hayden: Sorry. >> Jason Reynolds: And then, but then in like 2000, brussel sprouts got delicious, right. All of a sudden-- >> Carla Hayden: Well, they put-- >> Jason Reynolds: They got delicious, right. >> Carla Hayden: They put stuff on it. >> Jason Reynolds: Of course, they put all this stuff on it. They deep fry them. And thing is is that it could be argued, right, it could be argued that oh, well, the new brussel sprouts aren't quite as healthy. And my theory is, does it really matter if it changes how we feel about brussel sprouts. >> Carla Hayden: Thank you. >> Jason Reynolds: That's what I think about [inaudible]. >> Carla Hayden: I even ordered it one time. >> Jason Reynolds: There you go. >> Carla Hayden: What the heck, it had bacon. [laughter] What more, okay. But it needed something to grab you. >> Jason Reynolds: It needed something. >> Carla Hayden: And that's what like Richard Wright did on that second page. It gave you the incentive to say, I want to finish. >> Jason Reynolds: That's it. >> Carla Hayden: And it kept you going. >> Jason Reynolds: And once you finished, and everybody knows this, once you finish anything, all you want to do is feel the feeling of finishing something else, right. So, then I became sort of addicted to the idea of finishing a thing, completion becomes compulsory. And that was sort of what was happening. >> Carla Hayden: Now, did you keep reading and say, okay, I want to complete, but I want to feel comfortable to put this one down and find another one that got you going? >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah, I think for me, I mean after Richard Wright, look this is a book, these guys, Richard Wright was writing in the '20s and '30s, and then I started to read everything in the Harlem Renaissance, right, because what I realized also was I could connect, they don't sound like me, but they sound like my mother. Right. They sound like my family during the holidays at the table, right, the way that my uncles are sounding, my grandparents, right, and so at least I could identify with something familiar. And so I sort of just covered, I became sort of really interested in just covering all the literature of the Harlem Renaissance and then all the literature of the black arts movement, which sounded even more like my mother, right, and just, and really working my way up in that way before sort of expanding out. >> Carla Hayden: Now, there are a lot of people, and I [inaudible] say, it's a lot of book haters or hate reading of boys. >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah. >> Carla Hayden: Why do you think that is? >> Jason Reynolds: You know what I think it is? A few things. Number one, I think we live in a world specifically a country that limits the idea of what a boy can be, and it's interesting because I know that we usually speak that way about young girls, and I think it's true there too but a little different in that young boys oftentimes aren't allowed to be whole humans. Young girls are never treated like whole humans, but they get to actualize, but they get to actualize the feeling of being a human. Young boys are treated like whole humans but can never actually live in the world as one. Right. Because they're not allowed to quote unquote, they can't cry or be afraid or be anxious and insecure. They get all these things that are indicative of our humanity, boys are taught very young, you're not allowed to do these things. And so, for instance, you go into a new prison in America, specifically a prison that's, actually, any juvenile detention center, and you walk into any library, and you ask the librarian at that prison, what are the most checked out books, they're either going to say, sort of urban fiction, things of this nature, or they're going to say romance novels. And most people don't know this, most people don't know. Everyone's like, why would a kid in jail be reading romance novels? The question is an easy answer. They're 14 years old and you're locked in the box, right, you're not having your dating experiences, and so you read the romance novels as a way to sort of put yourself in a space the way you might be if you weren't in prison. But the real question is, why can't these boys feel comfortable reading these books if they weren't in prison? Because they like them. They're enjoying them. But a romance novel is never going to be given to a boy if he asks for what he's looking for in a library. It won't even be on a suggestion list, and he probably won't even have had a heart to read it. And if he does, he'll have to read it privately, which is fine. Right. Thinking about all of these things, and so it's not that boys hate books, it's that I don't know if we're doing the same, were not doing necessary kind of work or asking the right questions to young men. And furthermore, I think that we haven't been making the right work, right. Because you also have to have a breadth of work that can attract and appeal to all the young people and also young men, and I think for me it's like, look, if you like ESPN, if you like sports, read ESPN. If you like Fortnite, then let's write a book about Fortnite. I don't care what it is. Right. Let's just figure out how to attach it to you and whatever your interest are because instead of me spending all my time judging you, I'd rather spend my time trying to figure out how to fix the issue. >> Carla Hayden: Now, you talked about telling your story and what the transformation you saw in that young lady, and that's what your program is going to be. Grab the mic and tell your story. >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah. I think, I think that young people, unfortunately, I think they have so much to say. I've learned so much from young folks around this country and all over the world, but I think that as an adult I have to exercise a certain kind of humility around you in order for me to be able to get that story out of you. Nobody wants, you know, I talk to kids all the time, and they're like, yo, my teacher keep asking me, you know, what's wrong, and to talk to her. What I'm going to somebody, why would I talk to her when she ain't never told us who she is? I don't know anything about her, but she want me to tell her everything about me. Right. And as an adult, we all know that that's the way intimacy works. You got to give a little in order to get some. Right. You can't expect me to expose all the things about my life to you even though you're trying to help me, but I don't even know where you from. I don't even know your first name. I don't know how you grew up. Why would I just assume that you're going to be able to hold my secrets? Why would I assume that you're going to be able to protect my insecurities? Right. And so, my goal is to say, listen, I'm the national, the newly National Ambassador of Young People's Literature, but I'm not the ambassador for young people. That's you. You are the ambassador for yourselves. My job is to create a space as an advocate to make sure that you can champion yourself in a way that actually works, that's all. Right. I want to put the power back in your hands and say, look, I got my stories. Most of you have read them. If you come to my school, if I come to your school at the end of my talk, I'd say the same thing every single day. I want you to love my stories but nearly as much as I want you to love your own, right. Love your stories. There's freedom there. There's power there. You can, I'm not an exceptional person. There's nothing special about me. I just knew early on in life that my story mattered, and once I was able to grab ahold of it and put it on the page, it made a life for myself. Just telling my own truth. And so, if I get an opportunity to put the mic in their hands, and they get to tell the rest of this world who they really are, not who everybody says they are, all they care about is Instagram and Snapchat filters. All they care about is Fortnite and video games. All they want to do is listen to this or listen to that. Between, none of this is wrong, right, because if you're 15, you're 15. So, what we judge you for is really just you being 15 and us saying 15 shouldn't be 15 anymore because we've forgotten what 15 feels like. Right. My job is to let you say, is to give you the microphone and say, yo, I'm 15, and these are the things that I care about. This is what I'm concerned about in our world. These are the things I don't worry about. Here are the things I hear you all saying about me, and here is how I feel about that. This is my name, my city, my town. This is my family and my story. >> Carla Hayden: And you're going to go to rural small towns across America. Now why, do you see a special need there? What-- >> Jason Reynolds: I see that there are young people there who can't come to the Library of Congress. Right. I see that, right. I see that there are, I've been in one-stop light towns where the closest hospital is an hour and a half away. Right. I've seen places like West Palm Beach where you got the wealthiest people in the world who live there and ten miles down the street there's no grocery stores, let alone a library or a book store. ^M00:49:00 There's no rec centers, no jobs, no cars. Like places where there are unpaved roads, I've been all through Nebraska and all through Minnesota, I've been all these places, and what I realize is that we have it good, even the worst of us. Right. if you live in Washington, DC, and the surrounding areas, you're doing all right because you can get here on the train. Here, to the country's library, to the greatest museum system on Earth, for free, right. There are resources here, yes. There's marginalization, yes. It's complicated. Yes, there are complex lives and different resources and all the same issues that exist in every major city exist right here in our own. But if you ain't never been through the rural south, if you haven't gone through Appalachia, we're talking about a very different thing, and I can't pretend. I say this all the time, I can't keep saying I love young people if I only really mean I love a few of them, if I only love the ones who got, you know, street smarts because they grew up in the city or the ones who can afford cool sneakers or the ones who, you know, got interested in accent, so the ones who understand how to use chopsticks because they grew up in New York, right. The ones who've been around every kind of person so they are diverse and open minded. I can't, yes, I love them too, but I also have to love all of our kids, and not all of our kids are having these opportunities and living this experience. So, I want to go, and I want to see them be proud of where they're from. I was in Mexico one time years back, and I was 19, and I was in a small town, a [inaudible]. And this is all dirt road, and everybody lived in scrap iron shanty homes. And a young girl came to me and tugged me on the shoulder, I mean on my pant leg, and said, I want to show you my house. And I said, okay. And she was so happy, and we walked down this dirt road and around the corner, and when we get to her house, there's no door or roof, but she's so proud. But she's so proud to show me, this is my home. This is my story. I am not ashamed of it nor am I embarrassed. I'm proud of who I am and what I have and where I'm from. Imagine if we could do that, take a sample set of the oral history of America from the mouths of babes. I'd like to see all of us refute that. Then I'd like to see the statistics and the news and all the propaganda machines refute that. Let's hear it from the kids, and you tell me it's wrong. Right. Let's see. Let's hold everybody's feet to the fire by putting the power back in their hands. >> Carla Hayden: Wow. ^M00:51:29 [ Applause ] ^M00:51:40 So, back when you were nine, and thinking of giving somebody a mic at nine, what kind of rap were you doing? >> Jason Reynolds: I wasn't rapping. >> Carla Hayden: What were you doing? >> Jason Reynolds: I was rapping along with. >> Carla Hayden: But you were doing poetry. >> Jason Reynolds: I was doing, I started writing poetry around nine. I mean, my story is that, you know, there's rap music. I loved Queen Latifah when I was a kid. I loved, I grew up, I was lucky that I grew up at a time when we had all the different sounds and all the different versions of rap music and we had, so you could listen to Wu-Tang, and you could listen to MC Lyte, and you could listen to Queen Latifah, [inaudible] Quest, all these different kinds of groups and different kinds of people, and I was obsessed about the way they were bending and challenging the construction of language. Right. Challenging it. Saying, let's push it to the max and bend the language a bit to make it work for us our way. I started writing poetry shortly after this because my grandmother passed away, and you know, I love my mother. My mom is sort of crying and dealing and coping with that, and anybody in here who's ever heard your mother cry, you know it's a strange experience, right. That first time something happens to you on the inside, and it's hard to explain it, but if you've ever, some of you know what I'm talking about, right. It's a weird thing that happens. And I wrote down a couple lines because I had been studying rap lyrics and reading rap lyrics because we had to line our notes back in the day, and for the young folk, you're teachers will tell you, it's fine. And I'm studying the rap lyrics, and so I write a couple of lines down, and this thing was sort of used at a funeral. And so I got, I got to be a nine or ten-year-old with a taste of watching words become power, because my family members were like, hey, that thing you wrote, right, it meant something to me, right. That thing you wrote, it made me feel better. My grandmother had a whole bunch of siblings, and over the course of two years, that generation began to die out, and so everybody would call me. Hey, can you write another one of those things for, you know, that think you're doing, can you do some more of that, you know. And I'm 10, 11, 12 years old. And so the first, you know, ten poems are about death, are about helping people try to figure out how to understand something that I don't even quite understand at 10, 12 years old, but this was what was coming out of me, and that's sort of how it all began. >> Carla Hayden: And you do see, or do you see a relationship between rap lyrics and poetry and that. >> Jason Reynolds: Of course. And anything who says otherwise--I don't know how much, because being in the Library of Congress, like Jackie said, I don't want to say too much. But I will say, but I will, even though we're technically in the bastion of anti-censorship, I think that anyone who believes that rap music is not poetry doesn't know much about poetry and has a very limited scope of what poetry is. You know. That's like saying that Shakespeare is all play and no poetry. Right. That's like saying that--I mean-- >> Carla Hayden: Nicky Giovanni. >> Jason Reynolds: Exactly, exactly. So, is poetry and hip hop the same? Are they a part of the same family? Of course. I mean it came out of poetry. You do your research, go back to the '60s and '70s, and you listen to Gill Scott Haren [phonetic] and the last poets, I mean these brothers, I mean Linton Casey [phonetic] Johnson over in Brixton, England, doing the same thing, coming out of Jamaica, the Jamaica ska music and reggae music doing very similar things, the toasting. This is all, and you go even further back than that, and you listen to all of the, the old folk tales and how they were spoken audibly, and they rhymed, and they had jokes and punch lines and story lines. I mean this is the thing that we've been doing. It comes out of our bones. Especially as somebody who is of the black tradition and of the black culture. This is something that is inherent. >> Carla Hayden: That doesn't. >> Jason Reynolds: That doesn't, exactly. I mean you go all the way back to the West African griot. What I was doing at ten years old, the griots do for a, that's a part of their job, right, the oral storytelling usually performed at death ceremonies. That's what I was doing as a child. Not because I knew, but because I believe in genetic memory. I believe that we are who we are, and we've been who we've been. >> Carla Hayden: So, what inspires you today? What do you-- >> Jason Reynolds: What inspires me? >> Carla Hayden: Feed on to get your inspiration? >> Jason Reynolds: I'm around young folks all the time. And whenever I talk to people and they're like, man, I just can't stand kids, I'm like, you're not spending enough time around them. Right. And if you are, you're only spending time around them in a particular capacity. My mother told me a long time ago when I started dating. My mother was like, listen Jason, I want to make sure you understand, you know, if you go on a date to dinner and a movie, you only know here at the dinner and at movies. But you don't know how she going to act when your car break down on the side of the road, right. [laughter] And so, and so I think that we know young people in very specific capacities. I mean that's free game for you, just so you know. Like, you all can take, that's real. >> Carla Hayden: Thank you, Ms. Reynolds. Thank you very much. >> Jason Reynolds: My mother is full of that. She got a lot of them gems, you know what I mean? >> Carla Hayden: It's true. >> Jason Reynolds: But I think with young people it's the exact same thing. We know them in very particular capacity, in a very particular capacity and in an interesting context. Usually it's school, and so we're like, I don't like young people. Well, you only know them in places where they're forced to do things they don't want to do, right. So, if you know them outside of school, and if you get to know them in your neighborhoods and in your local bookstores and community centers and wherever else they hang out, you get to know who they really are. And if you catch one of them alone, you really get to know who they are, and they don't got to put on a show for their friends. You really get to know who they are, and I think I've done that an awful lot over the years, and they keep inspiring me. Every time I turn the TV on and I see them protesting, I'm inspired. Every time I walk into a school, and I see them protesting in schools, I'm inspired. Every time I turn on YouTube and I see whatever the new dance is, I'm inspired by that creativity, by that kind of irreverence. Every time I hear a new word, whatever the newest word is as language continues to change, that inspires me. Do your thing. Create new codes for yourselves. That's an amazing thing. Our parents had, you know, shorthand, they don't talk about this, but they had shorthand. So, what you do during text messaging, that ain't new either. >> Carla Hayden: They did that. >> Jason Reynolds: Malleable language, right. We've been doing it. >> Carla Hayden: Yeah, they were changing the words and put a word in, a letter in front and do that, I forgot what that was. >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah, see. It's an interesting-- >> Carla Hayden: Code. >> Jason Reynolds: It was coded language, and I think you all are the bearers of a new code. And I am so grateful to stand alongside you and do my best to decipher it just so that I could give it to the rest of the world and let them know that you all are geniuses. >> Carla Hayden: Yay! ^M00:58:13 [ Applause ] ^M00:58:22 I think we have an opportunity for you to ask some questions too, and I know that's going to happen. >> Marie Arana: Oh man. Jason, I just want to say, thank you for speaking for all of us and for doing it so vibrantly. From my heart to your heart, thank you. Just tremendous. Now, we're going to have questions and answers, so think about your questions, and while you do, a little bird named Leanne told me that there is a teacher in Bishop McNamara School who used to teach Jason, and his name is Chris Williams. And Chris Williams, will you please stand up. >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah, please stand up, will you? Yes! >> Carla Hayden: Where? [applause] Oh. ^M00:59:14 [ Applause ] ^M00:59:21 Oh, that's neat. >> Jason Reynolds: Best teacher ever. >> Marie Arana: And now, surprise upon surprise, there are also a couple or three former classmates of Jason's. Will you please stand up. >> Jason Reynolds: Uh-oh. >> Carla Hayden: This is like this is your life. [laughter] Old classmates. ^M00:59:39 [ Applause ] ^M00:59:47 This is like this is your life, that old show. >> Marie Arana: I know. >> Carla Hayden: Your teacher, you said that was your best teacher ever. >> Jason Reynolds: The greatest teacher I ever had, in any part of my education. >> Marie Arana: And Jason, the young people of Bishop McNamara have a gift for you. They put together something especially for you, and now I'm going to ask the representative of the class to come and bring it up. >> Carla Hayden: Oh, good. Oh this is-- ^M01:00:13 [ Applause ] ^M01:00:16 Oh, it's a book bag, yes. >> Jason Reynolds: I finally got a book bag. Thank you, thank you. I appreciate you all. >> Carla Hayden: Oh, neat. >> Marie Arana: You want to tell us a little bit about what's in the bag, you guys. >> Carla Hayden: Yeah, what's in the bag. >> Jason Reynolds: Let me open it up. It better not be no books. [laughter] >> Carla Hayden: Well-- >> Jason Reynolds: All right, let's see. >> Carla Hayden: Oh, some swag. >> Jason Reynolds: It's some, so it's some private letters, and I'm not, and there's, what's this. You know what I'm going to come over there and get a varsity jacket. I got one of these. What are these called? These, you all know what I'm talking about, drawstring bags. And a sweatshirt, T-shirt, a whole bunch of swag is in there. >> Carla Hayden: Yes. >> Jason Reynolds: Hey mustangs, I appreciate you all. Thank you very much. [applause] >> Carla Hayden: Oh, that's great. [applause] >> Marie Arana: That's so great. Thank you so much. And now, let's start with the Q and A. I've got some questions over here somewhere perhaps. Right here. ^M01:01:14 ^M01:01:19 Would you please say your name first and your school. >> Okay. My name is Tinniere [phonetic], and I go to Bishop McNamara High School. And so at my school I run the poetry club, I'm the president of the poetry club there, and not only me but a lot of the members in the poetry club are incredible writers, like the best I've ever heard, and so, I just like, I want to know if there's any way that, you know, I can get their voices out there so that they know how powerful their voices are because I know it when I go outside I'm just like you guys have to hear the people in my poetry club, because they're incredible, but nobody else knows because they're just the people that sit in the lunchroom alone or like they just go home after school, like people just don't know the power that they have. >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah. I think, first of all, a shout out to the poetry club. [applause] >> Carla Hayden: Thank you. [applause] >> Jason Reynolds: I didn't, we didn't have a poetry club when I was there. Did we? >> Yes. >> Jason Reynolds: Why wasn't I part of it? Sierra knew but I didn't know about it. I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true. Anyway, what I will say is, so, first of all, you all are living in a time when everything is possible, right. You all had the capacity to make everything known. I always think it's so interesting because you all, you always know how to promote everything until its time to really promote the thing that you all need to promote, right. You all got Instagram and YouTube and all these things that you can use to promote the things that you make. I mean, when I was a kid, none of those things existed, so we had to go down U Street, and you had to go into, back then you could go into all these different open mics that we're happening every single night of the week, and I was a 16-year-old and would go in there and sit in the back until it was my turn and get up and do my thing, you know. That still exists though. There's Spit That, which is still--Tony, anything else, bro? What exists out here. So, there's Spit That and then--are there any other spots? Busboys and Poets, yeah, yeah, yeah. Busboys and poets. ^M01:03:18 [ Inaudible Comments ] ^M01:03:20 >> Oh, Split this Rock, we work with them. ^M01:03:22 [ Inaudible Comment ] ^M01:03:24 >> Carla Hayden: Split This Rock. >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He know all that. >> Hi everybody. >> Oh, matter of fact, sister right there, that's Alexa, she works for Split This Rock. She actually manages the youth poetry programs. So, she probably would know a little bit better than me. >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah, yeah. >> So we going to do it. [Inaudible] Slam Team. Any Slam teams in this school, poetry slam teams. There's a bunch of that. >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah, so, like we're going to make sure, before this is over, we're going to link you up and make sure that you all talk. She could probably help you out as well. But also, look up this YouTube, this YouTube show, it's called, and Jackie, you know, [inaudible] it's called Ours Poetica, and--this is a John Green joint, ain't it? >> Jacqueline Woodson: No. >> Jason Reynolds: He didn't start it? ^M01:04:01 [ Inaudible Comment ] ^M01:04:04 Oh, poetry. So, look it up. It's called Ours Poetica. Right. O-U--R-S. Ours Poetica. And start something like that. When you look at it and you see what it is, its fire. And if you got a poetry club, you all can start something like that, and you can start to proliferate these things. And then just tweet me and I'll tweet it to everybody. I know that's what she was waiting for. You're like, can you just give me like a--I got you. [laughter] >> Marie Arana: Over here? >> My name is Justin Jones. What was your favorite book that you ever made. >> Jason Reynolds: What was my favorite book that I ever made? Justin, you know, it's tricky right. It's like asking your mamma who her favorite child is, you know what I mean? I think for me, for me there are two books that I love more than any of the other ones. It is Boy In The Black Suit, because it's all about sort of a young man dealing with his grief and his emotions, and then there was a book called As Brave As You. Those books are the ones that I personally like really, really love. And then after that I would like Ghost and Live a Long Way Down. And you know, I love those books too. They're not my favorites, right, but they are, but I'm probably most proud of them, obviously. Like, I love ghost and that whole series. And the newest book, and the newest book might be the best thing I've ever written, to me, to me. I Look Both Ways. That doesn't answer your question, but you know. >> Marie Arana: Thanks for that question. Next question? ^M01:05:27 ^M01:05:33 >> My name is Caseen Date [phonetic] from Store Hopson Middle School, and do you have any, like what's your favorite thing that you would like to do with your mom? Like hanging out with her? >> Jason Reynolds: You know what, so like my mom and I, so here's the thing. My mom and I spend a lot of time together when I'm not all over the place, and you know, we live, we like to do really simple things, you know. My mom is one of these people who live at Costco, you know what I'm talking about? You know, yeah, he's like, I know. >> Marie Arana: Yes. >> Carla Hayden: Yes. >> Jason Reynolds: So, you know, even if it's so, so like as you get older, these things get much more simple, what matters. And so if my mom says I'm going to Costco, do you want to come, then my answer has to be yes, right. And really, I don't be wanting to go, right. But I do want to be around her, right. And so we just go to Costco sometimes, or, you know, we have all these little very small things that we like to do, you know. Sit in her house and watch Family Feud. Right. Like really simple things that matter to me and that matter to her, and that's kind of our thing. Now, my pie in the sky though, what I would love to do, and she knows this, is that I would love to take her on a trip out of the country. And I've been begging for it, and I'm putting her on the spot because I want everybody to pressure her. [laughter] I've been begging her to do it, but she won't do it, and so, you know, eventually, hopefully one of these days she'll let me take her to go and see something abroad, you know. But if not, we're good either way, you know. >> Carla Hayden: You're good at Costco. >> Jason Reynolds: We're good at Costco. [laughter] Tasting everything. >> Marie Arana: Next questions. In the white sweater, please. >> Oh, what is the process of publishing a book like? >> Jason Reynolds: What's it like? >> Yeah, like-- >> Jason Reynolds: What is it or what's it like, because-- >> Two things. I don't know. >> Jason Reynolds: It's tricky, right. Are you asking what the process is or are you asking what the process is like? Because if you're asking what it's like, I'm going to tell you how I feel about it. >> Yeah, I guess that, I suppose I'm asking more what it's like. >> Jason Reynolds: Okay. Hard. It's an interesting process. I mean it's not like anything else I've ever done, because you spend so much time writing this thing, right. I'm pouring hour after hour, day after day, week, month, sometimes year after year working on whatever it is that I'm working on, and then, you turn it into someone who did not write it, right, but has, you know, sharp eyes, and all this technical ability and all this experience, and they tell you after all this time you spent that this is not very good. All right. [laughter] And so, and so, and my editor is here, and she's like, oh god, you know. This is not very good. And then you have to spend another year, right, rewriting this thing that you wrote, right, rewriting it over and over and over again. And the way I, you know, and eventually after all of this then, you know, you get to the book in the store thing, but that takes about two years. But it's okay. You know, I like to think about it like, you know, if you make, the editor's job in the editorial process, in the publishing process, is just adding season to the thing that I already made, right. So, it's like, think about it, I always say it's like cooking a chicken breast. You put a chicken breast on the stove, and you cook it up, and you bite into it. Even if it's done, it don't taste like nothing unless you put some seasoning on it, right. Put a little sauces on it, right. So, the editorial process, this is basically how we, this is when you put the sauce on it, right. And it doesn't always feel good because I got to make the sauce. But, but it always tastes much, much, much better. It's not good enough to just be done. It's got to taste good. All right. And that's what it feels like. >> Marie Arana: Wow, some truth being spoken here. Another question? Over here. Thank you. >> I'm Margo, and I go to St. Patrick's. What inspires you the most in your writing? Like where do you go for ideas? >> Jason Reynolds: Oh, where do I go for ideas? So, this is good. This is an interesting question. I don't really go, I mean I try to live a curious life. Now, I tell young people all the time, hold onto your imagination more than anything else other than your integrity, hold onto your imagination because the world, and unfortunately even sometimes school will do everything it can to take it from you. Right. So, hold on as tight as possible to your imagination. And if you can hold onto your imagination, you know then that like imagination fuels curiosity, and curiosity is what fuels creativity. Right. So, first, I live an imaginative life. I live a life where I'm curious about the world around me. I know I don't know anything, and that's the greatest position to be in. Right. The greatest--sometimes I turn on the TV and I'm just flipping and flipping, and I'm like, all right, let's see what's happening on the discovery channel. Just because it's probably important that I learn about this strange African frog I've never heard about. It doesn't, you know, it doesn't seem important right now, but I'm going to need to know what slime does on these frog backs, right. Like, you know, I mean my teacher in high school, one of my teachers, Mr. Williams, we had to watch Baracka [phonetic]. If any of you read the track series, there's a part in Sonny where he's watching this movie called Baracka, right. It's a silent films about, and it's just all the world moving at the same time, and I had to watch that when I was in Mr. Williams' class. And at the time it's like, what is this, right. And then, now, at 36 years old, I'm like, this movie was a masterpiece, right, and it opened up an imaginative chamber that I could tap back into 20 years later. You never know when it's going to come, but your job is to store up all these little creative tidbits. The world around you is beautiful, right. That's the only thing about your generation that I do challenge a little bit, like pick your head up. Like sometimes you got to pull your face away from the screen, just because you got to look around to see how beautiful the world that you live in truly is. Right. The rabbit hole is just that. And I get it. I'm a part of it too. It bothers me. I'm always like scrolling and scrolling, right. But it would serve all of us a moment, adults in the room too, to pick your heads up and look around and really look at what's happening, the good and the bad, and if you're not inspired by that, then I don't know what the point is. Right. Look hard. If you're not inspired, look harder. And if you're still not inspired, talk to somebody. Ask questions. Get to know people who are not like you. Go to neighborhoods that are not like yours. Try to be nonjudgmental. Try to exert a sense of empathy, right. Stretch out. Complicate your own arguments. Whatever you think you know, complicate it until you don't know it, then make yourself know it again. Right. And you'll learn new things, and new things will be added to that well of information that you can pull from. So, that's how I sort of, I live an inspired life, so I ain't got to wait to be inspired, you know. >> Marie Arana: Wonderful answer. One more question. We only have time for one more. Over here please. >> My name is Jaycee. I come from Ida B. Wells. We read the book Hummingbirds in the Trenches by Kondwani Fidel, and we've also read some books from [inaudible] as well as from you. And we're currently writing our own book, and what I want to ask is would you like to come to our book [inaudible] February 27 at five? [laughter] >> Jason Reynolds: Yeah, hey listen. You got to shoot your shot, right? [laughter] What's the date, what's the date? >> February 27th at five to six. >> Jason Reynolds: At Ida B. Wells? >> Yep. >> Jason Reynolds: February--my folks are in here somewhere. February 27th, February 27th from five to six. I will do my best. >> Thank you. >> Jason Reynolds: I will do my best. All right. >> Okay. ^M01:13:08 [ Applause ] ^M01:13:16 >> Marie Arana: So, I want to say, thank you, muchas gracias, to Jason for a fabulous performance. I want you all to stay in your seats for a while, but please give a hand to these wonderful, wonderful speakers. And the Librarian of Congress. ^M01:13:33 [ Applause ] ^E01:13:49