Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Jerome is a 12-year-old black youth living in Chicago who is playing with a toy gun and is shot and killed by a white police officer. Jerome is not sure why he seems to be lingering around his family and not going to heaven, but when he realizes that Sarah, the daughter of the police officer who shot him can not only see him but communicate with him, he knows he is there for a greater purpose. His role in preventing history from repeating itself becomes clearer when he meets the real Emmitt Till, a boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955. Till’s murderers were acquitted, which enraged many people and provided a catalyst for the civil rights movement. 

Chapters alternate from the after-life and his conversations with Sarah, Till, and other “ghost boys” to the time leading up to Jerome’s death. This review does not really contain spoilers because it is apparent from the very beginning that Jerome has been shot. Although Ghost Boys is being told from the main character’s point of view after his death (he is a ghost who is able to see how his family and friends are coping), it will appeal to readers who enjoy realistic fiction. Recommended for Grades 5-8.