Ghost Boys

by Jewell Parker Rhodes Narrated by Miles Harvey

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Taking on serious, persisting issues in America, this is a deeply moving story about a young boy killed by police. The blend of story and cultural relevance is exceptional.

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Ghost Boys:


A New York Times Bestseller
An IndieBound Bestseller
The #1 Kids' Indies Next Pick
A 2018 Nerdies List Book
An 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

Additional praise and awards for Jewell Parker Rhodes' books:

Ninth Ward was named a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book, a Notable Book for a Global Society, a CCBC Choices pick, a VOYA Top Shelf Fiction pick, an ALSC Notable Children's Book, an SLJ Best Book of the Year, an IndieBound Kids' Next List pick, a Parents' Choice Gold Award recipient, and an NYPL Top 100 Title for Reading & Sharing.


Sugar was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, an IndieBound Kids' Next List pick, a Jane Addams Book Award winner, an IRA Top Chapter Books selection, and a CCBC Choices Pick.


Bayou Magic was an LA Times summer reading selection and a Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Books selection.


Towers Falling was an Indiebound Kids' Next List selection, a Junior Library Guild selection, one of Amazon's Best Books of the Month, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, a Seventeen Magazine Best Book of the Year, and a Notable Book for a Global Society.

"Rhodes deftly showcases how much power and intellectual understanding our kids have in building a more inclusive society.”—Book Riot

AudioFile

In a stirring narration, Miles Harvey brings to life an American story that is chillingly familiar…Harvey captures this outsider perspective through the rhythm of his delivery, marked by short sentences and direct questions…Harvey exhibits an emotional range that further intensifies the story…In contrast, the author soberly narrates the afterword, inspiring listeners to bear witness to the truth underlying fiction. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”

the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Ha Angie Thomas

This was one of my most anticipated 2018 books and I was not disappointed. A must read.

School Library Journal (starred review)

Deftly woven and poignantly told, this a story about society, biases both conscious and unconscious, and trying to right the wrongs of the world. Verdict: 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.”

Chicago Tribune

In writing that’s spare and powerful, Rhodes takes us into…a kid’s-eye-view of violence and racism that balances innocence and outrage, wrenching loss and hard-won hope.”

WCMU Public Radio

Written beautifully...an important novel.

Booklist (starred review)

Beautifully weaves together the fictional and the historical…in this gripping and all-too-necessary novel about police brutality, injustice, and the power of bearing witness to the stories of those who are gone.”

VOYA

[A] potent story that deserves to be read.

Kirkus Reviews

A timely, challenging book that’s worthy of a read, further discussion, and action.”

Shelf Awareness

Unblinkingly confronts challenging perspectives and the mutability of truth.”

starred review School Library Connection

* "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.

The Monitor

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

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Rhodes writes in short, poetic chapters that offer graphic depictions of avoidable tragedies; her hope for a better world packs a powerful punch, delivering a call to action to speak out against prejudice and erase harmful misconceptions.”

Kirkus Reviews

2018-02-04
In a story that explicitly recalls the murder of Tamir Rice, Jerome, a 12-year-old black boy killed by a white Chicago cop, must, along with the ghosts of Emmett Till and others, process what has happened and how. With the rising tide of today's Movement for Black Lives, there has been a re-examination of how the 1955 murder of Emmett Till became the fuel for the mid-20th-century civil rights movement. With this narrative in mind, Rhodes seeks to make Till's story relevant to the post-millennial generation. Readers meet Jerome, who's bullied at his troubled and underfunded neighborhood school, just at the time that Latinx newcomer Carlos arrives from San Antonio. After finding that Carlos' toy gun may help keep the school bullies at bay, Jerome is taken by surprise while playing in the park when a white arriving police officer summarily shoots him dead. The police officer's daughter, Sarah, is the only character who can truly see the ghost boys as they all struggle to process that day and move forward. Written in nonlinear chapters that travel between the afterlife and the lead-up to the unfortunate day, the novel weaves in how historical and sociopolitical realities come to bear on black families, suggesting what can be done to move the future toward a more just direction—albeit not without somewhat flattening the righteous rage of the African-American community in emphasizing the more palatable universal values of "friendship. Kindness. Understanding."A timely, challenging book that's worthy of a read, further discussion, and action. (Fiction. 8-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170119899
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	04/17/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

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