Jason Reynolds stopped by the Daily Show to talk about his latest book, the YA romance Twenty-Four Seconds From Now…: A LOVE Story.
Reynolds’ book, published Tuesday by Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum, follows Neon and Aria, two high school seniors about to embark on a serious new step in their relationship. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus praised the novel as “a warm, heartfelt, and fully engaging portrayal of teen love.”
Reynolds told Daily Show contributor Jordan Klepper that he was reluctant to assign a genre to his latest book.
“I’m nervous to say that it is a romance novel,” he said. “I’m nervous to say that it’s not a romance novel, because my buddies who work in romance are very particular about their craft.…Instead of thinking about it as a romance novel, for me I like to think of it as a love story in which this young man is actually trying to figure out who he is in the midst of these new feelings around his girlfriend.”
Klepper said, “This book looks at male sexuality. Do you know which states it will be banned in?”
“I’d rather not say so I don’t have to give them any ideas,” Reynolds responded. “Let’s hope nobody, but I’m sure it’s going to happen somewhere.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
