- Written by: Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction with elements of magical realism
- Pages: 200
- Setting: Chicago black neighborhood, poor, run down
- Tone/Mood: Serious and dark dealing with racism and the killing of blacks by white policemen
I haven’t gravitated towards Young Adult literature for a while, but this one came across my desk and I thought I would give it a try.
The Black Lives Matter movement is real and felt in this book. Jerome is a young black boy (12 yrs., 7th grader) when he finally makes a friend in school. A new boy is transferred to his public school and Jerome is very happy to have someone to eat lunch with. Jerome is usually picked on by a group of bullies and with his new friend he feels safe…because his friend brought a toy gun to school! It’s plastic, but it looks very real. When the bullies approach them in the bathroom, the gun is pulled out and pointed and the bullies back down.
Jerome ends up taking the toy gun home with him so he can play with it that evening. He decides to play in the empty lot near his apartment and when a patrol car drives by and sees a black boy with a gun—they shoot him.
We next see Jerome as a ghost who is floating above his funeral. He sees the devastation his family is enduring. He sees other ghost boys who have been shot as well by police. They become his friends in death. The story reveals the pain and suffering that occurs even today due to racial profiling, racial bias, discrimination, racial injustice and police brutality.
The story is written for grades 4-8, but I enjoyed it as an adult. There are discussion questions, author notes, and resources for parents and teachers to enhance an open dialog. If I were still in the classroom I would definitely include this title in a Racism in our Society unit.
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