But then a series of ghosts appear in the elevator, each with a connection to Will’s past. Will sneaks out past his sleeping mother the next morning and gets in the elevator to kill Riggs. Instead of crying for his brother, Will finds Shawn’s gun in a dresser drawer and decides to kill Riggs-the Dark Sun gang member he believes killed Shawn.

Will sets the scene, describing his neighborhood, the relationship he and his neighbors have with the police, and the basics of The Rules: no crying, no snitching, revenge. Shawn is shot by someone in the Dark Suns gang while picking up special soap for his mother’s skin condition. The whole way down, we see Will realizing that he knows less than he thinks.The book begins as Will Hollomon, a 15-year-old boy living in a poor neighborhood in an unnamed city, witnesses his brother Shawn’s death. Shawn looks back at will and utters the last words, “You coming?”. The Ending of Long Way Downįinally, on the first floor, everyone streams out of the elevator ahead of Will. Will feels like crying too but won’t succumb even though one tear escapes free. However, in death, he’s breaking one rule as tears run down his face.

When Shawn gets in the elevator, he greets the others but doesn’t utter a word to Will. Was Shawn killed for killing Frick or because of a turf war? Will learns that the missing bullet in the clip was used by Shawn to kill Frick. They are challenging what he knows and what he thinks he knows about life, his family’s history, and the rules. They all puff on their cigarettes, creating a dense cloud while they talk to each other and to him. The last one to get on, on the second floor, is Shawn.Įveryone but Shawn has questions for Will, about what if he misses and how he knows Riggs is the guy. Then come his uncle, Mark, his father, and Mark’s killer, Frick. Then comes Dani, a girl who died from a stray bullet even though Will tried to cover her. The first person to get on the elevator is his brother Buck, the one who gave Shawn the gun that Will now carries. The book explores themes of grief, gun violence, and gang culture. He’s never shot a gun before, but he gets Shawn’s gun from the drawer, tucks it into his waistband, and heads out to kill Riggs, who he is convinced was the one who killed his brother.Īs Will takes the elevator down 7 floors, a dead person enters on each floor, someone connected to him. The rules are clear: no crying, no snitching, and revenge. His older brother Shawn has just been shot and while his mother is wailing, he is not he is following the rules passed down from father to son, son to brother. It is the story of Will, a 15-year-old who lives with his mother. Long Way Down is a young adult book by Jason Reynolds.

Long way down book