Eraser Tattoo

“Eraser Tattoo” by Jason Reynolds is a short story published in the young adult anthology Fresh Ink, which contains nine other short stories as well as a play and a graphic novel. A collection of 13 diverse and accomplished YA authors contributed to Fresh Ink, which was published in 2018. Jason Reynolds has written many novels for children and young adults, as well as several graphic novels and a poetry collection.

Reynolds’ protagonists are always people of color, and his stories draw on his personal experiences growing up Black in America in the 1980s and ’90s. As a young adult, Reynolds lived in Brooklyn for some time before he was eventually forced out of his apartment—an experience particularly relevant to “Eraser Tattoo.” The story explores such themes as Race and Gentrification, The Inevitability of Change, and The Challenges of Young Love. “Eraser Tattoo,” written from a third-person point of view, spans just the few minutes that a young couple spends saying goodbye before one of them moves away.

This guide refers to the version of the story published in the 2018 print edition of Fresh Ink.

In the story’s opening lines,

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