MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Every week, a guest draws a card from NPR's Wild Card deck and answers a big question about their life. Jason Reynolds writes young-adult novels that don't talk down to kids. His latest book is an audio-only release called "Soundtrack," which follows a group of teenagers in New York.
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JASON REYNOLDS: They're all musicians. And they use this music to sort of build family amongst each other as they tour underground, physically underground, in the New York City Subway system. You know, it's just an homage to New York City, an homage to young musicians, and it's an homage to what I believe is our most potent form of self-expression, which is music.
KELLY: On this week's Wild Card, Jason Reynolds talked with host Rachel Martin about his own childhood.
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RACHEL MARTIN: How easily do you cry?
REYNOLDS: If the ASPCA commercials come on, you're going - let me say something.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
REYNOLDS: The moment I see them dogs in that (laughing)...
MARTIN: I don't know why I'm laughing. They are very sad, yes.
REYNOLDS: I can't help it. I am a crybaby of all crybabies.
MARTIN: Are you a crier?
REYNOLDS: It is my favorite thing about myself.
MARTIN: Why?
REYNOLDS: 'Cause it reminds me that the expectations of masculinity didn't get me, that I avoided it, that somehow, some way, I was able to maintain a sense of freedom. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. And there are moments in which perhaps it puts me in precarious and embarrassing situations. But the people who love me and the people who are around me understand me well enough to know that he's going to need a moment to get this out, and that's it. There's nothing to talk about. I have no problem crying publicly in front of audiences of people 'cause I don't mind telling people that I appreciate folks bearing witness to a man who is able to somehow remain free. I'm grateful for it. I really, really, really am, and I'm grateful for my mother and father for - and for my friends that I grew up with who are still my same friends today for allowing me space to be myself without forcing me into a box that I do not belong in. So yes.
MARTIN: I love that, as the mother of two boys.
REYNOLDS: Yeah.
MARTIN: I love it. And I want to lift that up, and it's hard. It's hard to be a...
REYNOLDS: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kids these...
MARTIN: It's hard to be a boy.
REYNOLDS: Oh, my God. Tell me about it. But this is the reason why I am grateful to have writing. I can put it somewhere, right? And that's what it did for me when I was 10. That's the reason I started writing in the first place. It's because my mom was crying. I was OK. I mean, I was going through what I was going through with my dad, but it wasn't - it was my mom who was hurting. And I was trying to figure out how to make her feel better. And that's the reason I started to write poems for her, to try to figure out how to help her, right? So I think as long as - you know, it's important for people like us to just make sure we have a canister for this. We have to put it somewhere. And then, you know, we'll be able to manage our health differently.
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KELLY: You can watch that full conversation by following Wild Card with Rachel Martin on YouTube. And you can listen to Jason Reynolds' new audiobook, "Soundtrack," now. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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