May is turning into the month of sneaking extra middle grades books into my reading list. First I had Tight, and now Ghost Boys. I had a colleague recommend this book to me, and since she loaned me her own physical copy of it, I felt honor bound to read it promptly. I went into my reading hoping to be more impressed with this one than I was with Tight, and happily, I really, really was.
Ghost Boys starts off with disturbing scene - a twelve year old African American boy named Jerome has just been shot in the back by a police officer and is dying on the pavement. He feels himself slip away as he lays on the ground, watching the police officers stand nearby.
From that point on, the novel flips back and forth between "dead" and "alive" sections. The alive sections focus on Jerome and his family before the shooting. They show him to be a good kid with a loving family. He wants to become president, or a celebrity one day. He struggles with some bullying issues, but seems to be on the verge of becoming friends with a new student at his school.
The dead sections show Jerome as a ghost. He watches the heartbreak and anger his family and community suffers through after his death. He is angry and sad as well. He knows that what happened to him isn't fair and he doesn't understand why it happened. Before long, he notices other ghost walking the streets alongside him--other black boys killed by police officers or other white people in positions of authority. There are hundreds and hundreds of them. One other ghost in particular, that of a young man named Emmett Till, talks to Jerome about what happened to him and explains about the racism and bias that has led to the deaths of many young black men. With his help, Jerome must try to process what has happened to him and do what he has to do to move on.
To be quite honest, I was blown away by this book. It's a middle grade masterpiece. Jewell Parker Rhodes explores the complicated issues surrounding racism and policing in America in a way that is both thoughtful and accessible to a young audience. The story is difficult to read in parts, and it openly addresses police violence and racism, but it remains appropriate for middle grade readers. The technique of flipping back and forth between the past and the present works to highlight the tragedy of Jerome's death and makes clear the unfortunate events that led up to it in a way that keeps readers on their toes. I was completely emotionally involved in the story from page one.
I also liked Rhodes' writing style, which consisted mostly of short, blunt sentences. There was a beauty and a truth in the simplicity that both adult readers and younger readers will appreciate. It serves the dual purpose of highlighting Jerome's innocence and making the text easy for kids to navigate. The inclusion of Emmett Till and other real victims of violence from throughout history made their stories come alive. It was honestly so, so good. This would be a wonderful book for teachers to use in classrooms or for parents to read with their children. It's been a while since I've read a book that is so clearly both excellent and important.
One of my favorite pieces of the story was when ghost Jerome reads the first line of Peter Pan. It says, "All children, except one, grow up." Jerome scoffs at it, realizing that there are a lot more boys than one that will never grow up. Himself, for example. I never thought about the way different readers would react to that line. As a kid, I was delighted with Peter Pan and was able to lose myself in the fantasy of it all. It never occurred to me that some people would read that line and be reminded of violence and tragedy. It made me think of the privilege I have reading classics. I've been struggling lately with the racism, sexism, etc. present in a lot of older books, so that part of the story made me think about that more.
I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately. I'm powering through it, but it's been awhile since I picked up something that I truly loved. I'm so glad that my coworker took the time to recommend this book to me. I think Jewell Parker Rhodes has created something remarkable here. I'm very interested in looking at some of her other novels as well. I know I'll be recommending this to a lot of future students!
Total Books Read in 2021: 27
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