YA Annotation (My Name Is Jason. Mine too.: Our Story. Our Way. by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin)

 GENERAL DETAILS

• Title: My Name Is Jason. Mine too.: Our Story. Our Way.
• Author: Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin
• Published: April 21st, 2009
• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Length: 96 pages
• Series or Stand-alone: This is a stand-alone book. 
• Genre: Poetry/memoir
• Geographical Setting: New York
• Time Period: Modern day

BOOK SUMMARY

Poet Jason Reynolds and artist Jason Griffin are college roommates and best friends. In an attempt to hone their skills and develop their combined voices, they decide to move to New York to pursue their dreams. While they experience many ups and downs along their shared path to success, their friendship does not waver.

CONNECTIONS TO THE YA GENRE

• This book focuses upon after-college themes, such as moving to a new city and attempting success, which will resonate with the book's targeted demographic
• There is a strong sense of defiance in the book - that the authors do not want to work a normal 9-5 job and instead pursue artistic goals
• This book is written in a casual tone, which will engage younger readers who have an interest in poetry along with books that are written in verse
• The art style of the book is both eye-catching and accessible, which will hopefully encourage young readers to explore other poetry or art-focused books
• Two of the most salient themes of the book concern hope and friendship, which will connect with young readers who often deal with many similar difficulties that the authors face in this non-fiction narrative 
• An important aspect of the book, and one that is regularly referenced throughout the book, is that Jason Reynolds is black, and Jason Griffin is white. This fact is important, because the authors wanted to emphasize that, despite their differences, the two authors are best friends who truly love each other and have many commonalities 

KEYWORDS AND THEMES 

• Poetry
• Books that are written in verse
• Friendship
• Moving
• New cities
• Post-college experiences 
• Art
• Graphic design
• Race relationships
• Fast-paced
• Encouraging
• Hope-filled
• Emotional

READ-ALIKES (FICTION)

Here are some YA fiction books:

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (2018)

Muted by Tami Charles (2021)

Me: Moth by Amber McBride (2021)

READ-ALIKES (NON-FICTION)

Here are some other traditional YA poetry books:

Light Filters In: Poems by Caroline Kaufman (2018)

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson (2019)

Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman (2021)