![]() In the present day, a young mother narrowly avoids tragedy in her own life. In the 1700s, an Irish noblewoman, on discovering her husband has been murdered, drinks handfuls of his blood and composes an extraordinary poem that reaches across the centuries to another poet. ![]() A woman hurries in and kneels over him, her voice rising in an antique formula of breath and syllable the teacher calls a caoineadh, a keen to lament the dead.’Ī true original, this stunning prose debut by Doireann Ní Ghríofa weaves two stories together. Their muskets point towards a young man who is falling from his saddle in slow, slow motion. Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes.I am eleven, a dark-haired child given to staring out window … Her voice makes it 1773, a fine day in May, and puts English soldiers crouching in ambush I add ditch-water to drench their knees. If you are looking to read a book that will make you cry, laugh, think and act, this is the book for you. Most strikingly, the leader of the Ghost Boys is Emmett Till. The story is painful and at times Jerome talks about the plural of the title. Jerome is only visible to the policeman’s twelve year old daughter, Sarah. He cannot help Carlos get over his guilt. He cannot comfort his little sister, grandmother or his mom or dad. The past is prologue is a saying I never fully understood until now. He has so much to say and do but was robbed of the opportunity just like countless other boys. Jerome’s spirit is restless and he cannot move on spiritually. He took the gun to the park and mimicked videogame and tough guy talk one day, only to be snuffed out by a trigger happy policeman. Jerome resisted at first, but peer pressure and simple fascination took hold. It was a toy, but it was convincing enough and if the bullies tried to bother him, they would back off. Carlos convinced Jerome to take the gun home with him. He produced a gun and threatened the boys to leave them alone. When the bullies didn’t back off, Carlos had a different way of handling them. They spent their lunch period in the bathroom. When Carlos moved to Texas, Jerome befriended him and showed him how to avoid the bullies. He was a good kid who stuck up for his younger sister and against the school bullies. He was a good kid who only played video games. ![]() According to the officer who robbed Jerome of his life, Jerome was scary. So large that the officer responding to the call of a man with a firearm, that only after he made the split second decision shot Jerome in the back did he realize was a boy with a toy gun. In fact, he was of rather large build for his age. ![]() Jerome was being bullied in school but he was not a small boy. ![]() The novel flips back and forth to periods when Jerome was alive and when he died. Ghost Boys is written in the voice of Jerome Rogers, a twelve year old who was being bullied at his school. Rhodes book is the topic around that grim fact. Especially at the hands of white police officers. There is a long history of black boys being murdered. Rhodes’ book topic is a hot button issue would minimalize or trivialize the description as trendy or a fad. Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes is an awesome quick read! To say that Ms. ![]()
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