Ghost Boys

tw: police brutality, racism, bullying, physical abuse

don't be shy sweetie just call it racism

this book discusses a lot of issues with how we handle and discuss police brutality, but doesn't quite get there, and i get that. i get that it's a middle grade, and the wide range of heavy topics brought up are difficult to broach, but i feel like this book almost got there on several occasions but didn't quite get to home base before being tagged out. emmett till as a ghost was a powerful story device that wasn't used as much as i had wanted, and the plot with the cop and his family just wasn't quite it (i got white savior complex vibes at the end from sarah but i may just be too cynical there). things wrapped up a little too neatly and easily with the school bullies. i'm sorry, but i can't find sympathy for cops who murder innocent people, nor the bullies who might become those same cops one day, and you can't make me.

i loved carlos' plot and integration into the story. seeing him and jerome's grandmother healing together really worked, especially with the two different cultures seeing death in a similar way.

Pre-read this to read with my older son later this year. It's very moving and introduces the murder of Emmett Till to middle school readers. So much has changed since I was a kid. I did not hear his story until I was well into adulthood.

This book is absolutely heartbreaking. I finished it in less than 4 hours and I just couldn't believe that a 200 pages book could make me feel so many things. Anger, sadness, frustration. It's a great, great book. As a white person who want to be more educated when it comes to the history of black people, this book was a great start for me.

It's the story of a 12 year old black kid, Jerome, who is murdered by a white police officer because he thought Jerome was holding a real gun. He was not, it was a toy gun. The police officer shot Jerome in the back without asking him to put the gun down. Without actually telling him that the police was there. Without giving him a chance to explain. And that's all because Jerome had the skin darker than the police officer's.
Jerome becomes a ghost and is a witness to all that happens after his tragical death. How his family is suffering, how the police officer isn't found guilty of murder. He is saying that he was scared for his life, that he thought Jerome was a “big, scary man”. But he was a 12 YEAR OLD BOY.

One of the most powerful things in this book, for me, was this quote: “Color shouldn't make anybody scared. Is it because slavery happened? Is that why some whites are afraid of black people? I don't know. Wake up, people, I want to tell everyone. Fear, stereotypes about black boys don't make the world better.”

This book shows the true face of racism. It is sad, it is terrifying, but it should be something we learn from. We, white people. Because we need to stand together and FIGHT against racism.

My heart Is broken LITERALLY oh he was big shut the FUCK UP U DUMB BITCH NO HE WASNT..... THAT POOR BOY DIED BC OF THE COP WAS THREATENED OVER A Spoiler toy gun ... ok so I'm pissed and this review is over.... I need to calm down before I have a panic attack over this book bc I am crying so hard right now... Emmett Till FUCK I CRIED WHEN HIS PART CAME ABOUT HOW HE WAS KILLED.... I want racist to be over but it won't be over.

My dad got a skin color of a black person but is puertorican.... he told me he gets racist things called to him...went into a store and somebody followed him to make sure he won't steal anything out of there. I'm scared for his life every Single day.

Age appropriate... teen, tween, YA. Difficult to read, from a subject matter perspective, but things like this SHOULD be difficult to read. I really liked the way that JPR tied her story back to the events about Emmitt Till. A lot of youth probably haven't been taught about Emmitt Till, so it's a good way to tie difficult current events, into some [also difficult] historical events.
Great discussion starter written by an excellent Black author.

A very quick and excellent read. I got it for my emerging 6th grader and decided to preview it - would strongly recommend for kids and adults alike. I'll try to come back later to add her thoughts.