美国国家公共电台 NPR Words Of Wisdom From Young Adult Authors: Jason Reynolds

Words Of Wisdom From Young Adult Authors: Jason Reynolds

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Throughout August, we'll bring you stories and advice from authors who have written for young people about that pivotal moment where they've left home and set out on their own. It's a series we call Next Chapter. Today, we hear from Jason Reynolds. He's the author of "All American Boys" and "When I Was The Greatest." And he describes his work this way.

JASON REYNOLDS: They're slice-of-life stories typically revolving¹ around African-American teenagers, specifically in urban environments.

CHANG: Reynolds spent his childhood in Washington, D.C. And as he approached that moment of leaving home, it felt like the world around him was in turmoil².

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BRENDA'S GOT A BABY")

TUPAC SHAKUR: (Rapping) It's sad 'cause I bet Brenda doesn't even know just 'cause you're in the ghetto³ doesn't mean you can't grow.

REYNOLDS: Growing up in the '80s and then the early '90s was a tricky⁴ time, especially if you were a kid of color because what was happening in - during that sort of era with the crack epidemic⁵ and gangs, HIV and AIDS, there wasn't much literature being written to depict⁶ those times, especially for young people.

There were no books about your neighborhood being addicted⁷ to this specific drug. There were no books written in your language about what it was like to see your friends or your family members suddenly lose 200 pounds and slip away from you from something that nobody had any idea what it was or where it was coming from. So hip-hop, they would - I always tell people the rappers of that time period were the YA authors for us. They were telling our stories.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BRENDA'S GOT A BABY")

SHAKUR: (Rapping) Brenda wants to run away. Mama say you're making me lose pay. There's social workers here every day. Now Brenda's got to...

REYNOLDS: So how it all started for me was me reading rap lyrics⁸. I would go to the store, I would buy cassette tapes, and I would read the liner notes and sort of subconsciously⁹ creating the connections between the rappers that I was reading and the poets that they were teaching us in school. Saying that, like, Queen Latifah and Maya Angelou were more alike than they were different, and Tupac and Langston Hughes were more alike than they were different. And so poetry was my entryway.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "U.N.I.T.Y.")

QUEEN LATIFAH: (Rapping) I hit the bottom. There ain't nowhere else to go but up. Bad days at work give you an attitude and you erupt.

REYNOLDS: It was when I left home to go to college, and then it was when I left college to go to New York. I packed my clothes in trash bags and moved to Brooklyn.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NUFF' OF THE RUFF' STUFF'")

QUEEN LATIFAH: (Rapping) Get funky¹⁰ with it.

REYNOLDS: Everything was about sort of making sure that my mom was pleased about what I had done with my life. But in Brooklyn, I got to cut loose and say to myself, look, this is my shot. I'm going to shoot my shot. You know, we ate peanut butter out of the jar and tuna fish, and we did whatever we could to sort of survive. And on the flip¹¹ side, I felt like I was living the life I was supposed to be living, the most authentic¹² life that I had lived thus far.

Be not afraid of discomfort¹³. If you can't put yourself in a situation where you are uncomfortable then you will never grow. You will never change. You'll never learn. And I think for me, the discomfort of drowning is what taught me to swim.

And furthermore, I think that for all the young people out there, the one thing that I learned that I still hold on to every day of my life as I work as an artist is that it's always going to be process before progress. It takes work. It takes humility¹⁴. It takes confidence. It takes agency and urgency. And it takes a little bit of luck sometimes, too.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING")

LAURYN HILL: (Singing) Let's love ourselves, and we can't fail.

CHANG: That was Jason Reynolds. His new book, "Ghost," will be out later this month. We've been hearing music from Tupac, Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill picked by Mr. Reynolds. He's part of our series Next Chapter.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING")

HILL: (Singing) Let me tell you that everything is everything. Everything is everything. After winter must come spring. Everything is everything. Everything is everything. What is meant to be will be.

1 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

2 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

3 ghetto   

n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区

参考例句：

• Racism and crime still flourish in the ghetto.城市贫民区的种族主义和犯罪仍然十分猖獗。
• I saw that achievement as a possible pattern for the entire ghetto.我把获得的成就看作整个黑人区可以仿效的榜样。

4 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

5 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

6 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

7 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

8 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

9 subconsciously   

ad.下意识地，潜意识地

参考例句：

• In choosing a partner we are subconsciously assessing their evolutionary fitness to be a mother of children or father provider and protector. 在选择伴侣的时候，我们会在潜意识里衡量对方将来是否会是称职的母亲或者父亲，是否会是合格的一家之主。
• Lao Yang thought as he subconsciously tightened his grasp on the rifle. 他下意识地攥紧枪把想。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

10 funky   

adj.畏缩的，怯懦的，霉臭的；adj.新式的，时髦的

参考例句：

• The kitchen smelled really funky.这个厨房有一股霉味。
• It is a funky restaurant with very interesting art on the walls.那是一家墙上挂着很有意思的绘画的新潮餐馆。

11 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

12 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

13 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

14 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。