Ghost Boys, Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ghost Boys, Jewell Parker Rhodes
3 Rating(s)
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Ghost Boys

Author: Jewell Parker Rhodes

Narrator: Miles Harvey

Unabridged: 2 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/17/2018

Synopsis

A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes.

Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better.

Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.

Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father's actions.

Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and socio-political layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of today's world, and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.

About Jewell Parker Rhodes

Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes is the author of six adult novels: Voodoo Dreams, Magic City, Douglass’ Women, Season, Moon, and Hurricane, as well as the memoir Porch Stories: A Grandmother’s Guide to Happiness and two writing guides, Free within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons for Black Authors and The African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Nonfiction. Jewell is also the author of seven books for youth, including the New York Times bestsellers Ghost Boys and Black Brother, Black Brother. She has won the American Book Award, the Black Caucus of the American Library Award for Literary Excellence, and the Jane Addams Peace Association Book Award. Jewell is the founding artistic director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and narrative studies professor and Virginia G. Piper endowed chair at Arizona State University. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Carnegie-Mellon University. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Hannah on January 04, 2024

Jewell Parker Rhodes tackles timely issues (racial bias, bullying, class differences with regard to education and upbringing, gun violence) and introduces young readers to important figures (Emmett Till, Tamir Rice) in this story of a twelve-year-old black boy who is shot and killed after police mis......more

Goodreads review by Reading_ on November 11, 2024

If you need some good book recommendation on #blacklivesmatter read this one. The overall verdict of how the book handles police brutality and how this book ended is something I want to discuss. The one 🌟 missing from the rating has never mattered more. I am disappointed at how things ended up so qu......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on May 25, 2019

4 stars! “Can't undo wrong. Can only do our best to make things right.” Ghost Boys is a short but powerful read, and one I hope people of all ages will read. Jerome is out playing with a toy gun when two policemen shoot him. Dead, he watches over his family and community as they grieve. Joining......more

Goodreads review by Amy on April 26, 2018

This is the book I have been waiting for! I have been desperately searching for a middle grade book that would cover the same topics as The Hate U Give & Dear Martin but in a way that was more suitable for a younger audience. I tried to find it in The Stars Beneath Our Feet, but, that one was no......more

Goodreads review by Gem (The Creepy Geek) on June 28, 2020

I don't really have the words. This broke my heart. It made me so angry. I cried and it was for both of those reasons. It was because this is real. Read this. Read it with your kids, your friends, your book club, your conscience. If you are someone that says All Lives Matter, read this and tell me y......more

Quotes

Praise for Ghost Boys:
A New York Times BestsellerAn IndieBound BestsellerThe #1 Kids' Indies Next PickA 2018 Nerdies List BookAn ALA 2019 Children's Notables List Pick

"This was one of my most anticipated 2018 books and I was not disappointed. A must read."—Angie Thomas, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give

* "Rhodes captures the all-too-real pain of racial injustice and provides an important window for readers who are just beginning to explore the ideas of privilege and implicit bias."—School Library Journal, starred review

* "An excellent novel that delves into the timely topic of racism... with the question of whether or not we really have come far when dealing with race relations."—School Library Connection, starred review

"In writing that's spare and powerful, Rhodes takes us into the hearts and minds of those who are left behind, and then out into a vast and luminous world where ghost boys wander among the living, pursuing their mysterious mission. Rhodes has achieved something remarkable here: a kid's-eye-view of violence and racism that balances innocence and outrage, wrenching loss and hard-won hope."—Chicago Tribune

"A timely, challenging book that's worthy of a read, further discussion, and action."—Kirkus Reviews

"[A] potent story that deserves to be read."—VOYA

"Ghost Boys is powerful in prose, and so important at this time. I hope parents will read this book to their children."—The Monitor

"Written beautifully...an important novel."—WCMU Public Radio

"Unblinkingly confronts challenging perspectives and the mutability of truth."—Shelf Awareness

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