Comment

Jan 16, 2019Rouver rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Racial bias, unintentional or not, within a police force is a serious issue, as well as a complex one. This was a well-done book that is appropriate for 6th/7th graders, depending upon your/their tolerance for violence. It's not overly graphic, but it could be disturbing for children who have had no exposure to the fact that children their age are victims of violence at the hands of adults & even police officers. (Not to say that they shouldn't read it) It's also a good book to start having some harder conversations with white children as to the history of our country as it relates to how blacks, especially young black boys, have been treated. Jerome is a good kid living in a poor neighborhood in Chicago. He is shot by a police officer who thought the gun in his hand was real, rather than the toy that it was. The story looks at how this event impacts not only Jerome's family, as he watches over them as a ghost, but the officer's family as well. Jerome also learns he's not alone, as he's joined by the ghost of Emmett Till, a non-fictional boy Jerome's age, who was killed in Mississippi in 1955. It's a moving story and very well done. Highly recommended.