It's his fourteenth birthday, and, Grandpop says to become a man, you have to learn how to shoot a gun. Then Ernie lets him down in the bravery department. And when he finds the secret room that Grandpop is always disappearing into-a room so full of songbirds and plants that it's almost as if it's been pulled inside-out-he begins to wonder if his grandfather is really so brave after all. How does he match his clothes? Know where to walk? Cook with a gas stove? Pour a glass of sweet tea without spilling it? Genie thinks Grandpop must be the bravest guy he's ever known, but he starts to notice that his grandfather never leaves the house-as in NEVER. Thunderstruck, Genie peppers Grandpop with questions about how he hides it so well (besides wearing way cool Ray-Bans). The first is that he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the very first time to spend the summer with their grandparents all the way in Virginia-in the COUNTRY The second surprise comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind. In this 'pitch-perfect contemporary novel' ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award-winning author Jason Reynolds explores multigenerational ideas about family love and bravery in the story of two brothers, their blind grandfather, and a dangerous rite of passage.

Dumbfounded by Ernie's reluctance, Genie is left to wonder - is bravery and becoming a man only about proving something, or is it just as important to own up to what you won't do? Review Genie thinks that is AWESOME until he realizes Ernie has no interest in learning how to shoot. And when he finds the secret room that Grandpop is always disappearing into - a room so full of songbirds and plants that it's almost as if it's been pulled inside-out - he begins to wonder if his grandfather is really so brave after all. How does he match his clothes? Know where to walk? Cook with a gas stove? Pour a glass of sweet tea without spilling it? Genie thinks Grandpop must be the bravest guy he's ever known, but he starts to notice that his grandfather never leaves the house - as in NEVER. The first is that he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the very first time to spend the summer with their grandparents all the way in Virginia - in the COUNTRY The second surprise comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind. When two brothers decide to prove how brave they are, everything backfires - literally - in this 'pitch-perfect contemporary novel' ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review) by the winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award.

As brave as you review