In the novel Ghost Boys, author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells the story of twelve-year-old Jerome, who moves daily from the safety of his strong family to the threatening setting of school, where bullies pick on him because he is a truly “good” kid. His family, particularly his Grandma, lives quietly with the fears inherent in being an African American boy in an urban neighborhood. When Jerome’s new friend Carlos (to whom Jerome is nice when Carlos moves up from Texas and has no friends) convinces him to share his toy gun while playing, the worst happens: a local police officer, feeling threatened by the possibility of a gun being turned against him, shoots Jerome. The dispatch with which the white police officer’s case is dismissed is a clear sign of the deep-seated biases of the system of justice with which Jerome and his family live.
In death, Jerome becomes a ghost, able to observe his family’s grief and outrage as he tries to understand what happened to him. His thoughts, in life and in death, are woven into an affecting narrative chapter by chapter. He realizes that, as a ghost, he can be seen and heard by Sarah, the daughter of the officer who killed him. He can also see other ghost boys—those hundreds and hundreds of young men killed, throughout history, by the violence of racism. In particular, Jerome meets Emmett Till, a young black boy killed in an historic incident in 1955, who urges him to tell his story to Sarah. It is the mission of ghost boys to speak their truths to the living, as only the living can help make the world a better place. Sarah grows to understand the systemic nature of her father’s “mistake” and, never alienating her father, she undertakes a school project to explore the conscious and unconscious racism present in society historically and today.
Rhodes’s prose conveys gracefully and authentically the powerlessness Jerome and his family feel faced by fear, loss and grief; the redemptive possibility of learning from history; and the importance of bearing witness to both the pain of racial injustice and the hope for a better future. The difficult themes in Ghost Boys are presented in a stunningly thoughtful, engaging way that invites conversation and understanding. Ages 11 up.
In A Wreath for Emmett Till, author Marilyn Nelson crafts the painful, true story of fourteen-year-old Emmett Till, lynched in 1955 for the alleged crime of whistling at a white woman. Nelson’s fifteen sonnets weave his story in a dignified and searing way and, along with Philippe Lardy’s strong illustrations, invite conversation and is an excellent complement to Ghost Boys. Ages 12 and up.
