"A lyrical masterpiece." --School Library Journal (starred review)
Originally performed at the Kennedy Center for the unveiling of the
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and later as a tribute to Walter Dean
Myers, this stirring and inspirational poem is New York Times
bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds's
rallying cry to the young dreamers of the world.
For Every One is just that: for every one. For every one person. For
every one dream. But especially for every one kid. The kids who dream of
being better than they are. Kids who dream of doing more than they
almost dare to dream. Kids who are like Jason Reynolds, a self-professed
dreamer. Jason does not claim to know how to make dreams come true; he
has, in fact, been fighting on the front line of his own battle to make
his own dreams a reality. He expected to make it when he was sixteen.
Then eighteen. Then twenty-five. Now, some of those expectations have
been realized. But others, the most important ones, lay ahead, and a lot
of them involve kids, how to inspire them. All the kids who are scared
to dream, or don't know how to dream, or don't dare to dream because
they've NEVER seen a dream come true. Jason wants kids to know that
dreams take time. They involve countless struggles. But no matter how
many times a dreamer gets beat down, the drive and the passion and the
hope never fully extinguish--because just having the dream is the start
you need, or you won't get anywhere anyway, and that is when you have to
take a leap of faith.
A pitch-perfect graduation, baby, or inspirational gift for anyone who
needs to me reminded of their own abilities--to dream.
