WOODRUFF: As we've just been hearing, a good
movie can really grab your attention.
This weekend, throngs of kids and adults will
see the new "Star Wars" take.
While Hollywood has figured out how to get
boys to watch movies, the formula is trickier
for getting boys to read, especially among
those who have already expressed frustration
and boredom with books.
Tonight, author Jason Reynolds, whose newest
young adult novel is called "Long Way Down,"
shares his opinion on how poetry can dazzle
reluctant readers.
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JASON REYNOLDS, AUTHOR, "LONG WAY DOWN": If
you were to tell me that you were afraid of
dogs, I wouldn't then return to you with a
pack of pit bulls.
I wouldn't invite you out to a quiet evening
over dinner and Cujo (ph).
However, what I might do is casually walk
with you by one of those doggy daycares.
The ones with the pups small enough to fit
in the palm of your hand.
Yippy little furballs that get so excited,
their tails wag the entire back halves of
their bodies.
The dogs that grin and want nothing more than
to lap your skin with fervent affection.
That's how I would help break down the distrust
of dogs.
It just makes sense.
So then, why, when it comes to young people
who don't like reading, who feel intimidated
by literature, do we answer that cry with
an onslaught of the very thing they fear?
Why do we show up with a pack of pit bulls
in the form of pages, and expect them to stop
running away?
Perhaps they haven't found the right style
of book because, sometimes it isn't about
subject matter, or voice, or point of view.
Sometimes it's about the most obvious thing:
the words on the page.
For some kids, those words -- the amount of
words -- is equivalent to a snarling dog.
So, why not start with the less threatening,
palm-sized pup in the window?
In this case, poetry.
Poetry has the ability to create entire moments
with just a few choice words.
The spacing and line breaks create rhythm,
a helpful musicality, a natural flow.
The separate stanzas aid in perpetuating a
kind of incremental reading, one small chunk
at a time.
And the white space, for an intimidated reader,
adds breathability to a seemingly suffocating
task.
I wrote this to explore the in-depth, though
momentary, inner monologue of a young person
dealing with a complex emotion -- one we all
can relate to -- in just 50 words.
I felt like crying, which felt like another
person trapped behind my face, tiny fists
punching the backs of my eyes, feet kicking
my throat at the spot where the swallow starts.
Stay put, I whispered to him.
Stay strong, I whispered to me because crying
is against the rules.
With the incredible selection of poetry and
novels and verse from past to present, this
is an opportune time to use them to chip away
at bibliophobia.
Less words on the page, more white space,
without necessarily sacrificing the narrative
elements.
And once young people experience turning those
pages, once the rush of comprehension and
completion laps at their psyches for the first
time, perhaps they will know they need not
fear a thing created to love them, and for
them to love.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: And please join us on PBS NEWSHOUR
weekend Saturday and Sunday.
A two-part series asks: is the government
doing enough to keep our drinking water safe?
And we'll be back, right here, on Monday,
with a look at life after ISIS for the men
and women of an Iraqi religious minority.
That's the NEWHOUR for tonight.
I’m Judy Woodruff.
Have a great weekend.
Thank you, and good night.
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