book cover

Stuntboy: In the Meantime

by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Raúl the Third

Interest age: 8 to 12
Reading age: 9+

Published by Knights Of, 2021

  • Around the world
  • Graphic novels

About this book

Portico Reeves lives in a huge apartment complex in a city in the USA, buzzing with  community, fun and life. In his imagination, he is a superhero – Stunt Boy – and neighbour Herbert Singletary the Worst is his evil nemesis. But the biggest threat to Portico’s world is in his very own home; his parents are being "mean" to each other and he needs his friends to get him through.

Portico’s story is fun and funny, but it is also a serious child’s-eye view of coping with the trauma of arguing parents. What’s special and different about this sophisticated book is the style: it reads like music, sampling different media such as TV shows, graphic novels and films, mixing in voiceovers from the author and using rhythm and call-and-response. The exciting graphic novel sections dip into a TV show that Portico loves watching. An extended metaphor towards the end reads like a jazz improvisation, as the author takes the reader into a world where Portico is literally split down the middle.

This book would make fantastic class reading because there is so much to discuss about how the writer uses language, literary devices and word choice to create their chosen effects.

About the author

Jason Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, National Book Award Honoree, a Kirkus Award winner, a two time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. Reynolds was named the American Booksellers Association’s 2017 and 2018 spokesperson for Indies First, and served as the national spokesperson for the 2018 celebration of School Library Month in April 2018, sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

Jason’s many works of fiction include When I Was the Greatest, Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave As You, For Every One, Miles Morales: Spider Man, the Run series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), and Long Way Down, which received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com

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