In the book When I was the Greatest, Jason Reynolds creates a fictional story as he tries to address the everyday issues of an African-American teenager in New York. Throughout the novel, Reynolds strives to illustrate all the hardships that the main character, Ali Brooks, faces in an idyllic manner. Although this makes the book easier to understand, it mostly oversimplifies the complexity of the plot. Because of this, there are many issues that he fails to address. Although Reynolds had the right assumption when coming up with how the characters and events in the story would clash, the way he conveys the novel creates a barrier which prevents the plot from moving forward in an organized manner.

One of the elements that Jason Reynolds excluded in the story is character development. From the first chapter to the last few, Reynolds introduces a vast range of characters- All of whom could’ve been used to make the story more alluring to its readers, but don’t really go anywhere. When a reader is brought into contact with new characters, they expect to see some kind of change that would make the story more superior in a sense. Instead of taking the time to find ways to develop the characters so that the plot would move smoothly, Reynolds simply brings them in once, and evidently, they are never seen again. All those characters who would have driven the story’s plot- tossed away without a second thought. For instance, the author introduced a character named black in chapter 5, a “minor character”. Since he simply cut the boys’ hair in a minor scene, not many people would expect him to have such a great influence on the story’s plot towards the end. (Reynolds 56-77) However, the author resurrects Black with an extremely crucial role: presenting Ali and his father with information that had saved the boy’s lives and all those around them. “‘They all started talking about MoMo's party, Ali. They started talking about you- about Y'all. But mainly about you.’” (Reynolds 188). With Black providing them with something like this, one would expect the author to give him some sort of recognition. Not to mention, after Black gave the information to Ali and his father, the author never mentioned Black again. After everything he has done, one would think he at least deserved a small appearance in the ending. Like Tasha, for example, was only seen twice and never again- the author states how important she was to Noodles, but never writes about her again after the events of the party. In order for his story to be much more enjoyable, there were many alternatives Reynolds could have turned back to. For instance, instead of merely introducing MoMo, who had such a great impact of the story but was never actually seen, such an important role should have been given to someone whom the reader could understand. Instead of introducing so many characters, Reynolds needed to focus on a small pool of people, and then worked to develop their characteristics in a way that would move the plot in a direction readers can agree with.

The main conflict of When I was the Greatest primarily revolves wholly on one event in the story. Now, this strategy would be considered a clever method when used correctly, but the way Reynolds uses it is not what any of his readers would be expecting. When focusing a story on one specific event, it should be well developed in order for the book to be exhilarating to its readers. Every captivating story allows the reader to be able to connect all events. However, when Reynolds introduced one major scene, MoMo’s party, he lacks a great amount of detail. He explains what happens during the story and after, but the main problem is that he abruptly leaves it at that (Pg. 140-158). If Reynolds had added all the details in this one event, not only would it have made the story flow easier- it would’ve made it easier for readers to understand. Every great author knows, what happens in novels or series should be like a thread: everything ought to be connected and aligned with each other in many different aspects. But in this novel, the events that take place from beginning to end feel forced, as do many other parts of the story. As if they don’t really fit together, but are just there because the author knows that you can't maintain a reader's interest with one scenario, especially one with so little detail. The events in the story move from one place to another, and the author is also unsuccessful when addressing adding in features that would’ve made the events in the story to picture. There were many questions for readers that were left unanswered. For instance “What happened to Tasha after the party and why was she never seen again if she was so important to Noodles?”, “Who exactly is MoMo and why was he never actually seen?”, “What happened at the party after Ali and his friends left?”, “How did this one event affect the people in Ali’s life and the course of the story?”. Reynolds does not take the time to explain how the party in MoMo’s basement affected the ending. Like many parts of the story, the way the events progress seem rushed and underdeveloped. The way he displays details in each scenario makes it seem as though he was just eager to finish and publish his novel rather than taking the necessary steps needed in order to make a book more compelling to larger audiences.

An ending is a magical part of every story; it’s what readers of all ages look forward to when engrossing themselves in a book. The ending is what helps every “good” story become “great”. But in his novel, Reynolds crushes the hopes of many readers. As he gets ready to close the book, there are many issues he left unresolved, like the situation with Ali’s family, plus Needles and Noodles’ parents. "......This is what my mother told me. She said when the doctors said Needles had a syndrome, my father was so mad he punched a hole in the wall... I don't remember that, but the next morning he was gone.'" (Reynolds 157) In chapter 10, the author explains what happened to their family in Noodles' point of view. Even as he was leading up to this moment from the very beginning, he doesn’t fully explain everything the reader would wish to know. By attempting to give his book a “fairytale” ending all while trying to relate to his audience, the complexity of his story vanished faster than Ali’s father went to jail. For a plot line as convoluted as the one Reynolds had brewed up in his head, a more emotional ending was to be expected of him. Instead of giving the reader something worth remembering, he proceeds to end the story and doesn’t realize all the characters he hadn’t developed and all of the backstories he brought up but never gave an explanation for. For example, all of the issues that Ali has faced were resolved with simple solutions. (Pg. 215-232) The fact that the threat of a notorious gang searching for him was dispersed after his father traded his car and clothes he stole. In addition, the broken relationship between Noodles, Needles, and Ali was solved with a simple apology. Noodles’ and Needles’ family issues were never actually explained, much less resolved; their backstory wasn’t even given a proper part in the story. All of the wrongs were written, but not in a way that would’ve had the reader yearning for more. The ending seemed so basic and all the explanations he presented for his scenarios were simple, making the book seem as if little thought was poured into it.

It would be easy to say Reynolds’ book was “good”, but when carefully inspected, the way the author depicts the story makes it quite difficult for a large number of people to say they actually“loved it”. There were many parts of the story that were not properly resolved, that is if they were ever even settled down. There is no such thing as a “perfect book” because the way a story is judged is based on the preferences of the audience. A novel is like a tree: if you plant it right, water it daily, and nurture it in every way possible, it will grow to be the best of its kind. Reynolds' failure to tend to his sapling robbed the story of its leaves and flowers. He leaves the reader with a bare tree - empty branches, no color, weak roots, and a trunk that will topple without a proper solid foundation.