For Everyone

by Jason Reynolds

  that tiny ember

  of doubt and fear

  that glows

  beneath the brush.

  THIS LETTER

  IS FOR

  US ALL.

  The awkward angels

  with crooked halos and

  second-hand wings.

  The irresponsible

  and curious

  fire-bellied babies.

  The deformed, with

  hearts on the outside

  and ears on the inside.

  The squares who

  use nine-to-five cubes

  as planning sessions

  for the real work.

  For the rebel children,

  the wild ones

  the long-shots

  the bad-mouthed

  the side-eyed

  the terribly terribly

  terribly envied

  secretly

  by the safe.

  For those who bear the cross-

  the two perpendicular

  planks of passion-

  who find life is best

  when nailed to it.

  For the jumpers.

  For the jumpers.

  For the jumpers.

  THIS LETTER

  IS FOR US ALL,

  to remind us

  that we are many.

  That we are right

  for trying.

  That purpose is real.

  That making it is possible.

  But this letter

  is not about making it,

  BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW

  NOTHING ABOUT THAT.

  I DON’T KNOW

  NOTHING ABOUT THAT

  at all.

  Besides,

  I’m not sure

  making it

  even matters

  so much.

  FOUR

  When it comes to

  my dream,

  the way I like to describe it

  is that

  it’s a rabid beast

  that found me when I

  was young.

  It bit me

  and infected me,

  but before

  I could catch it,

  it shot off into

  the darkness.

  Now I spend my life

  searching for it,

  hunting it down.

  I know I’m on its trail.

  I can smell it.

  I can hear it.

  SOMETIMES

  I THINK I CAN

  EVEN SEE IT.

  EITHER WAY,

  I know

  I’m on the right track-

  my nose to the dirt,

  foaming at the spirit.

  I look under heavy stones,

  behind massive trees,

  deep in dark caves,

  and I will keep looking

  until I find that beast,

  that thing that bit me

  when I was young.

  THE TRUTH IS,

  finding that beast may

  or may not happen.

  But the treasures I’ve discovered

  under the heavy stones

  and behind the massive trees

  and deep in the dark caves

  have created the hunter

  and the human

  that I am.

  Your dream is the mole

  behind your ear,

  that chip in your

  front tooth,

  your freckles.

  It’s the thing that makes

  you special,

  but not the thing that makes

  you great.

  The courage in trying,

  the passion in living,

  and the acknowledgment

  and appreciation of

  the beauty happening around

  you does that.

  DREAMER,

  I am not fit to say much more,

  because I don’t know much more than that.

  If you do,

  please write back.

  If not,

  please accept this

  as just a few words

  of encouragement.

  And if this letter means nothing to you,

  if it’s just more pointless weight

  added to an already heavy life,

  feel free to burn it

  and use it for firelight

  for this

  long and often dark

  road.

  But if you somehow find truth,

  comfort,

  or anything at all

  within this ramble,

  keep it close

  and use it for firelight

  for this

  long and often dark

  road.

  With love,

  Jason Reynolds

  JASON REYNOLDS is crazy. About stories. He’s the author of a lot of books, and the winner of a few awards, and seven years ago when he started writing this he had no idea he’d be talking to you. Ain’t that something? But you know what they say . . . life is but a dream.

  Check him out at jasonwritesbooks.com.

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Jason-Reynolds

  Atheneum Books for Young Readers

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  ALSO BY JASON REYNOLDS

  WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST

  THE BOY IN THE BLACK SUIT

  ALL AMERICAN BOYS (with Brendan Kiely)

  AS BRAVE AS YOU

  GHOST

  PATINA

  LONG WAY DOWN

  SUNNY

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division | 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 | www.SimonandSchuster.com | This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. | Text copyright © 2018 by Jason Reynolds | “Brothers and Sisters” painting on cover copyright © 2014 by Jeff Koegel | All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. | Atheneum logo is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. | For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com. | The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. | Interior book design by Mike Rosamilia | “Brothers and Sisters” painting copyright © 2014 by Jeff Koegel | Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data | Names: Reynolds, Jason, author. Title: For everyone / Jason Reynolds. | Description: First edition. | New York : Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, [2018] | Identifiers: LCCN 2017036160| ISBN 9781481486248 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781481486262 (eBook) | Classification: LCC PS3618.E9753 F67 2018 | DDC 811/.6—dc23 | LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017036160