Reynolds, J. (2015). The Boy in the black suit. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Matt is a 17 year old teenager who has just lost his Mom to cancer.  The book opens right after her funeral on his first day of his senior year.  He notices everyone treating him cautiously and being distant.  He is still the same kid, his friends and teachers all view him differently except his best friend, Chris. Matt and his parents have a good relationship and his mother taught him to cook, he is a good cook.  After his Mom died, his Dad is strangely absence, off of work and starting to drink.  Mom said he used to drink but Matt has never seen him like this.  Matt wants a job to help out his dad and Mr.Ray offers him a job at the funeral home.  At first, he is not sure but as long as he doesn't have to touch dead people he agrees.  He starts sitting in on funerals and connects with the person that has the greatest loss there.  When he sees them cry, he feels better.  Matt feels weird about it but somehow it gives him comfort. His Dad is in the hospital as result of being drunk and now Matt is basically on his own. Lately, Matt is noticing a girl from the fast food place and meets her at the Grandmother's funeral.  He is drawn to her and pushes himself to talk to her. Her name is Love, she is independent, smart and brings him to feed the homeless and unfamiliar places he would have never visited. She is guarded at first but once she shares her story on why she hates Valentine's Day, there is a connection between her experience and his memories. Chris lives in the projects and Matt remembers that scary night there was arguing in the hall.  Mr. Ray always keeps an eye on him, Mr. Ray feels a little guilty because his drunk brother and dad had been together the night Matt's dad was hurt. The pain of his mother's death is more bearable, Dad is healing up and his relationship with Lovey is just beginning but the pain of living in their neighborhood hits close to them both.
The Boy in the Black Suit is an inviting book written with ease and heart by Jason Reynolds. He has written several YA novels and won various awards.The Boy in the Black Suit is one of the Top Ten books winners of  Best Fiction for Young Adults in 2016 given by YALSA. It is also a Coretta Scott King honor book along with many other awards and honors.
Reynolds said he wanted to become a writer so that life in tough black neighborhood would be chronicled and shown.  He wants teenagers to have material written that mirrors their own experiences.  He believes that is done some in movies but music today doesn't reflect teenagers' experiences but rather rich rappers. Jason Reynolds encourages writers to write with their own voice and they must be reflected in their work. Chris Myers, Walter Dean Myers's son encouraged him to step up and take the place Myers had in writing novels that reflected their community.  Walter Dean Myers instructed him to keep a strict discipline in writing everyday. Treating writing like a job which in turn would produce many novels.  Myers went on further saying with a great volume of work, they can't ignore you.
Classroom connections would be to encourage students to write in their own voice by sharing some of Jason Reynold's interviews. Two of those interviews where he shares his experiences are Shut up and Write with Jason Reynolds and the print article, The Graceful Power of Novelist Jason Reynolds. Reynolds was not one who grew up reading but discovered writing as an authentic way to share his journey. The strength of sharing his story and struggles will be that the student will be able to see themselves in Jason Reynolds.