Review: Ghost Boys

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes.
Little, Brown, and Company, Hachette Book Group, New York, 2018.
Middle grade fiction, 214 pages.
Lexile: HL360L ( What does HL mean in Lexile? )
AR Level: 3.0 (worth 3.0 points) .
NOTE: this is a work of historical/fantasy fiction, not to be confused with the 2013 disability memoir Ghost Boy. Also, this review deviates somewhat from my usual style as I found this novel difficult to unpack.

Ostensibly the story of twelve-year-old Jerome, an unarmed Black boy shot in the back by a white police officer while playing with a toy gun – but really the story of Sarah, the police officer’s daughter and the only one who can see Jerome’s ghost. The ghost of Emmett Till also plays a peripheral role.

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes.

This is the fourth book by Jewell Parker Rhodes that I’ve read, and while each of the previous books I liked more than the last, unfortunately this one sorely disappointed me. Sugar was not my favorite on initial reading, but over the years has truly stuck with me and is now one I regularly recommend. The historical fantasy and ghosts of Ninth Ward wasn’t my cup of tea, but I adored Bayou Magic and included it on my first list of diverse middle grade fantasy novels. Ghost Boys returns to ghostly visitation, and I suppose I should have been prepared to dislike this given that her previous ghost story was my least favorite of her books.

As I’ve mentioned before, most fiction books on this blog I read twice before reviewing. MG fiction goes fast for me and writing is slow, so it normally takes about as long to create the review as to read the book. Because I felt so iffy about this one, I kept rereading it trying to pinpoint where the problems were and just kept getting more upset by the book.

In my review of Sharon Draper’s 2007 historical fiction novel Fire from the Rock, I said:

“More and more I’m coming to appreciate authors who can walk that thin but difficult line in diverse historical fiction – not glorifying the past nor downplaying the facts, but still managing to find hope and not terrifying young people either.  (Because let’s be honest, slavery was terrifying.  So were the acts of racial terror that followed in the Jim Crow era.  So are many things that happen today.  But sheer terror can freeze a person and young people need to be ready to act.)”

Although writing a decade later, in this book Rhodes falls firmly on the wrong side of that “thin but difficult line” for me. Yet especially with the Emmett Till case back in the news, I wanted to review this book and clear it off my bookshelf.

Books like this are why I write both positive and negative (and the occasional neutral) reviews on this blog. Because just based on what I’ve posted previously, I could see my readers assuming that Rhodes is a trusted author who would tell this story with the delicate portrayal it needs and deserves.

I see this book brought up in education circles frequently as a way to introduce Emmett Till to young readers, and it certainly does that, but the effect is heavily diluted by keeping the main focus and drive of the book on the white girl. Till’s actual story is largely explored through Sarah’s discovery of his story, even though he is a speaking character in the book. In the same way, Jerome’s experiences are primarily filtered through Sarah’s perception and reaction to them.

Rhodes had an opportunity here to subtly challenge our assumptions, but instead her choices center whiteness and create an awkward subtext that was difficult for me as an adult reader to process despite reading this book off and on since 2018. She includes moments which might resonate with a teen or adult reader, but which the target audience are not likely to have the context to appreciate. Because the Black characters are given little to no agency, this novel consistently feels off – denying legitimate reactions of Black children while coddling the white main character. This results in scenes that are subtly off – more difficult to detect than blatant racism.

Typically when I already plan to review a book, I don’t read other reviews until mine is fully written and edited (even if the post isn’t live yet). The rare exception is when something is bothering or confusing me that needs clarification before writing my review or doing the second reading. I found a review on Goodreads that discusses many of the issues I had and even pointed out some I’d missed.

“What a harmful, naive way to resolve this story. Her dad isn’t some casual racist man who through the power of words will repent his racist ways. He’s a bigot who actively lied on the stand – purposely and/or subconsciously – and killed a child. He shot a kid in the back, no warning, and watched as he died, refusing to call for an ambulance. To have that same child turn around and defend this racist man is beyond words. Putting the onus on a child to forgive anyone who has mistreated them to any degree similar to Jerome’s is dangerous not to mention disgusting.”

Mariah’s review on Goodreads

Although it’s only been five years since this book was published, I do hope if Rhodes was writing a story based off this idea today, it would be so much better. Part of me is trying to think – what was the publishing climate like in 2017 when Rhodes was writing this novel and trying to get it published? Did Rhodes feel like she had to center whiteness in order to get the message that Black boys were being shot to young readers?

Yet we also have to consider that this is being read in schools today. If W’s white English teacher was reading this with his class, I’d have concerns – because the subtle lesson taught here is that he should push down his own legitimate feelings and concerns to assist in the emotional processing of white women. How would that impact the classroom dynamics? I don’t see it making a positive change for my child.

In the future, I plan to read some other books that cover similar ground, but which hopefully will be less frustrating. And yes, I’ll probably return to Rhodes. I’m not ready to write her off completely, since she did previously write three books I mostly enjoyed. But I can see how other readers might, if this was the first book of hers they read – and if they were coming to it with the high expectations of the many, many positive reviews. But I’ll check them out from the library instead of buying, because she’s no longer an author I trust.

Strongly NOT recommended.

[Edit: after writing this review, my attention was brought to Zetta Elliot’s commentary.

“But I do wonder why Rhodes chose to include Emmett Till in this narrative if she was unwilling to fully unpack the painful history of lynching. The author takes time to explain the alleged whistle that prompted Till’s murder, but doesn’t explain why an accusation made by a White woman against a Black boy led to such a horrific act of violence.”

Zetta Elliot’s review, Heal Thyself

As always, she is gracious and well-spoken. She also brings a great depth of knowledge on lynching, and her own perspective as a writer, to her critique. Like Mariah’s review linked earlier, she comments that allowing Kim to see Jerome would have largely resolved the problems of this novel and taken the spotlight off Sarah. I agree and would love to read a rewrite of the story which makes that change.]