“A lyrical masterpiece.” —School Library Journal

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.

Reader Reviews

Gabby

(4/5)

Dec 03, 2024

Short and sweet and inspiring. I listened to the audiobook which was only 25 minutes long, and it was the perfect pick me up. You can tell Jason Reynolds is a great writer and has a true passion for it and I love that. I love the fact that he’s not preaching at you because he’s super successful, he just wants to continue to motivate himself and achieve his dreams, and I found this short book very inspiring and motivating. :)

Lata

A quick read of an inspirational poem aimed at younger readers, exhorting them to dream, to have courage, and to take action.The words, while not groundbreaking, are heartfelt, and I would have liked to have read the sentiments when I was much younger and wondering what direction I should go.

Melanie (MelReads)

(5/5)

Haven't even been awake for an hour and I'm already in tears. A letter dedicated to dreamers and the reality of how dreams become manifest. Something I am sure all us creatives or people who dream big need to hear.Jason Reynolds just has a way of making you feel things so deeply, that your only emotional response is to burst into tears. Safe to say the audiobook for this is fantastic, and it's only 25 minutes.

Emily May

364

I saw this in the Goodreads Choice Award nominations for Best Poetry and thought I'd check it out!It's a super quick read - thirty minutes max. - but it's pretty hard-hitting without being cheesy. That's the one reason I can never get into "motivational" reads: it's almost always super cheesy, carpe diem-type stuff. Reynolds, however, doesn't truss it up. His raw and sparse poetry is to the point and unsentimental. Moments like this one are occasional centre pieces, not the foundation of the poe...

Emma

(3/5)

This is a letter/poem to all the dreamers out there. Reynolds explores the theme of uncertainty but he also wants this letter to be an encouragement for all the people trying to make their dream come true. It’s a testament of his dream too, of how difficult it is to make it and also of him not giving up what he believes in. I think the message this little book wants to send is an honorable one but I just wasn’t blown away by it. This book is good, but I think there could have been more to it.

Dave Schaafsma

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 short speech by great performer and children’s author Reynolds is vaguely titled, but it is addressed to young people about the importance of dreams. In it the now successful Reynolds reveals how he was unsuccessful most of his life, and never gave up. His principal accomplishment seems to be the fact that he is an inspiration to thousands of kids...

Kayla Dawn

Well, I think I should stop trying to enjoy poetry lolI don't think this is a particular bad one or anything, it just wasn't for me.

Krista Regester

The truth isour dreams could beas far away as foreveror as close as lunchtime.

Bookishrealm

This is exactly why I'm in love with this man. He has such a beautiful soul. Just a few weeks ago I was feeling like I haven't accomplished anything or I haven't really reached my goals. I was so close to giving up, but hearing this made me realize that no matter your age you can reach your dreams or goals at any time. It made me look at life with a refreshed perspective. It made me realize how much longer I have to keep going to achieve my dreams. I really think that people don't take enough ad...

Lauren Lanz

“Dreams don't have timelines, deadlines, and aren't always in straight lines.” For Every One is a broad and inspiring piece that speaks directly to the dreamers of the world. Jason Reynolds never fails to impress me with his stories, so it was nice to read something he wrote when he was young, to turn his frustrations into ambition. The audiobook narration was lovely, especially since its read by the author himself. For Every One is only around 100 pages (or 25 minutes to listen to), and stil

Reading_ Tamishly

Flawless!!!I really loved this one.So. Damn. Inspiring!The whole book has been written as a letter in words like four line poems : short, clear and delivering👍The basic theme is to go for your dreams NO MATTER WHAT AND HOW OLD YOU ARE.I so needed to read something like this.And hellaluyah! I got this at the perfect time.The lines are so pure and so damn motivating.There's no turning back when you pick up this one.Kudos to Jason👍

Critterbee❇

Beautiful. Everyone would benefit from reading this letter/poem of dreaming and jumping and persisting and accepting."Your dream is the molebehind your ear, that chip in yourfront tooth, your freckles.It's the thing that makesyou special,but not the thing that makes you great.The courage in trying,the passion in living,and the acknowledgement and appreciation ofthe beauty happening aroundyou does that." Jason Reynolds, I love you.*eARC Netgalley*

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For Every One

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