New Books Network Jason Reynolds, "Soundtrack: A Novel" (Random House, 2026)
Apr 14, 2026
Jason Reynolds, award-winning author and storyteller known for powerful work for young readers. He talks about Soundtrack’s journey from audio-first to print. He explores musical influences, composing prose to a rhythm and metronome. He describes busking, New York’s street music culture, and how drumming and rhythm shape character and identity.
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Audio First Then Page Preserves Performance
- Soundtrack began as an unpublished 2015 novel that later became an audiobook first, then a page version crafted like a hybrid script to preserve its audio identity.
- Jason Reynolds avoided heavy edits to the print because the audio already existed, so the book reads like a transcript/screenplay with novelistic rhythm.
Writing To An Internal Metronome
- Reynolds structures his prose with rhythm: he writes to an internal metronome or click track so language carries musical timing and breath.
- He intentionally bends literary rules to match rhythmic demands, treating sentences like measures in a song.
Music Tied To Childhood Rituals
- Reynolds recounts his father playing everything from Hendrix to Tracy Chapman while dressing and cutting the kids' hair, shaping his eclectic musical taste.
- He remembers Tracy Chapman played only during haircuts, a sensory memory that tied the album to a specific ritual.
