Ghost Boys

By: Jewell Parker Rhodes

Narrated by: Miles Harvey

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.

Critic reviews

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

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.

Fantastic

I chose this book to read to my 5th grade class. They absolutely loved it and connected with it!!! They kept wanting to know more and lore because it triggered their curiosity.

Amazingly done!

This is a wonderful depiction of the emotions of a tragic situation from both sides. A must read!

powerful and necessary.

we are all connected and must keep that front and center in our lives. this book shows both the tragedy when that's ignored and the potential when compassion and justice drive us.

Powerful Listen

A must listen for all to bear witness and effect change, understand unconscious bias and for the futures of all BIPOC children.

A good book that has a good lesson to learn from

Ghost Boys is a book that is based on stories and events that have happened in the last several years, the murders of young black men and boys. Jewell Parker Rhodes' writing weaves between the current event the death then provides background on why and how Jerome was killed. The book goes deep into the raw emotions and feelings of how the biases we have, plus what we make ourselves see. The story for a black man is all too common, but for another reader, it can be a lesson as to what is regular everyday life for so many African Americans. You have to act a certain way. You should be careful of what you do around the police, don't say certain things, etc. Her examination of the struggle that a family has to deal with after the death, something not a lot of people knows or think about.

She delves into the story of Emmett Till and also provides updated information, which is extremely helpful. Rhodes' hope that this book could be used as learning material is thoughtful and I think it could be used in some cases as a template for teaching race issues and why certain people view people in a certain way. Overall this is a good book, it should be read or listened to, whichever you are able to do, you won't be sorry for it.