Ghost Boys

Bibliography:
Rhodes, J.P. (2019). Ghost boys. Place of publication not identified: Little, Brown. 

Plot Summary:
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.

Review:
-beautifully weaves together the fictional and the historical—Jerome comes across the ghosts of real-life individuals like Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin—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.

Awards:
• Booklist starred, 02/01/18
• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 04/01/18
• Kirkus Reviews, 02/15/18
• Publishers Weekly starred, 02/19/18
• School Library Connection starred, 03/01/18
• School Library Journal starred, 01/01/18
• Texas: Bluebonnet Award Nominees, 2019
• Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), 04/01/18