Ghost Boys

By Jewell Parker Rhodes

My Rating: 5/5

Genre: Children-Fic, Historical Fic

Finished on: 30th Dec, 2020

This is yet another book which I picked after coming to know my cousin is teaching to her students.

And although this book is for children, it holds a deeper meaning.

And in my personal opinion I feel everyone should read such books at least once in their life.

This isn't just a story, but it's about prevailing injustice and racism which has become so common in our lives.

It's important to understand that.

It's important to realise that.

And much more than that, it's important to raise our voices against it. So we avoid this from happening to anyone in the future.

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The protagonist in this story is a kid named Jerome.

He passes away in the month of Jan. When a policeman mistook the boy to be a dangerous man who has the intention to harm police, and in the attempt to defend themselves, they open fire.

Resulting in the death of the poor kid Jerome.

And Jerome isn't just a kid.

He's a black kid.

After passing away, he has turned into a ghost which can see everything. But nobody can see him.

He saw how distraught his family has been after his death.

It pained him to see his family so broken in his funeral.

What would, just for a second, make Grandma happy at my funeral?

There was another ghost boy who is sometimes around. Jerome doesn't know who he is. At least not yet. But whenever the ghost boy comes around, he gives an acknowledging look. Telling he's been through that.

So court trials happen against the policeman. 

(I'm surprised they happened! Otherwise this case could have been easily closed in the name of self defense)

And in those trials, we see that if not anyone, there was one being who could actually see Jerome around. 

That person was Sarah, the policeman's daughter.

Jerome couldn't understand how or why Sarah is able to see him. But the other ghost boy lets him know...

“Believe this, Jerome. It matters that Sarah can see you.”

We were given insight on Jerome's life before the incident too. He was an innocent boy who used to occasionally get bullied by 3 other boys - Eddie, Mike and Snap. He has a younger sister, Kim. And as an elder brother he takes responsibility of safely walking Kim from school to home and vice versa.

A new kid had joined too. Carlos. He's Spanish.

Initially, Jerome didn't want to be his friend, but later finds out he's a nice friend to hand around with after all.

The 3 bullies who troubled Jerome? Well, they start troubling Carlos too. And although Jerome, who got so used to this behaviour, starts giving Carlos tips on how to avoid them.

They were hiding in the bathroom, but Carlos being so shit scared, blows his cover and gets caught by the 3 bullies. They catch him, bully him, even start physically abusing him.

Jerome comes out to defend his friend, and their attention turns to Jerome and he gets treated the same way. So Carlos pulls a trick which surprises even Jerome.

In order to get them away from the two, Carlos pulls out a gun and points at them. That simple act was enough for them to scurry away in fear.

Jerome was afraid too. Carlos has a gun?! Why? Who is he?

Was it a right decision to befriend him? Did he make a mistake?

But Carlos reassures him that the gun is simply a toy gun. That's it. Jerome loved it how he has seen the bullies be afraid of him for the first time.

The feeling was nice.

He felt protected, after a long time.

After school Carlos wanted Jerome to take home the gun. You know, to play with it.

At first Jerome was reluctant. But then he wanted to take the gun too. Although he knew his family won't be happy if they find out. But still he wanted to be a rebel.

For once.

His sister Kim wasn't happy either. But she could only do so much, being the younger sister.

So Jerome takes home the gun.

And we all know what price Jerome paid for that.

The policeman saw a black kid with a gun. And perceived it to be a dangerous man with a gun. Who'd supposedly attack the policeman with it any second. So without thinking for a moment, policeman fires and Jerome takes the shot. Resulting in his death.

Now Carlos blames himself for that. If he had not given him the gun, would he have been alive today?

But, really. Was gun the main fault here or the misjudgment from the police officer's side?

Regardless, Kim wanted Carlos to come clean with Jerome's family. As she didn't want Carlos to carry the burden by keeping this secret hidden always.

And when he does, Jerome's grandma isn't mad. She's in fact happy that Jerome had such a good friend.

And this wasn't the only thing which made me teary. With Jerome gone, there isn't anyone whom Kim can walk to school with.

Jerome (the ghost) sees the 3 bully approaching Kim. He gets anxious. He so wishes he was alive and human so he can protect his little sister from them. Carlos was around, thankfully. But what if he isn't enough? What if they still hurt both of them?

But, trust me. What happens next makes us all go very teary.

The 3 bullies approach and admit how genuinely sorry they are for what happened to Jerome.

They smile at them.

And just like that, Jerome watches how they walk alongside Kim to school, to be her bodyguards in replacement of Jerome.

All four—Carlos, Eddie, Mike, and Snap—walk my sister to class.

I honestly could feel how relieved and overwhelmed Jerome must have felt looking at that.

So that's how the story goes.

The court trials aren't successful, because no matter what, the police officer keeps telling he did it out of self defense.

But the more he keeps repeating that, the more he himself realises how much of a false statement that is.

But the court does not. They favour the police officer. At least for now.

Jerome's family is heartbroken from this. But they don't care.

If they win the case or not, their son, their grandson isn't coming back. He's gone.

Coming to the other ghost boy who accompanies Jerome in the story? He was much more than just a ghost character in the book.

He was Emmett Till.

A real boy. From the real life.

Who had a real story.

In the book, it's merely mentioned that he had a very brutal end to his life, and from his death sparked the outrage of racism which has been prevailing for years. From his death, the realisation was out on the streets regarding the behaviour of blacks over whites.

From his death, the black started demanding justice. Justice for Emmett and justice for themselves.

Trust me, after reading this I looked up his story and it broke my heart. Such a small boy had to meet such a tragic end to his life.

All because he was a black boy?

If you're reading this, and you have not known about Emmett Till until now, I suggest you go and learn about his life. And what happened to him.

We all must be aware of the cruelty which some had to face in life.

In order to realize there are grave problems out there which we are not addressing.

And in order to be strong to raise voices against such atrocities happening 

Listening to Emmet's story, not just him, but Jerome suddenly sees many such "ghost boys" manifesting themselves.

All standing in solidarity.

Because they all have faced the same fate as Emmett. 

The same fate as Jerome.

They all decide to stick together, until they come across a time when they finally, finally get the justice they deserve. Get the respect they deserve.

“Ghost boys stick together,” I say, firmly.

“At least until there aren’t any more murders,” answers Emmett. “Until skin color doesn’t matter. Only friendship. Kindness. Understanding.”

“Peace.” That’s my wish, too

Peace. That's my wish too Jerome.

That's my wish too.

We  are close to the end of this book. One question remains. 

What was the significance of Sarah?

Why could she see Jerome? How does this matter?

Sarah could see Jerome because she knows who really is the culprit here. Being a little girl herself, Sarah knows what her father has done is wrong.

And although he got away with it, doesn't mean he and all the others who has done this crime should simply get away with it.

She confronts her father. And although he gets mad at her first, he later gives in and indirectly confesses how guilty he is for what he has done. Jerome was just a little kid after all. Just like his little daughter.

So Sarah tells him about a project she has started. To collect the info of all the black kids who met the same fate as Jerome.

And then raising awareness against them.

So that hopefully in the future, there shouldn't be any Jerome or Emmett in the future.

That hopefully they all get justice.

Sarah's father couldn't be any more proud of her. He picks her up and goes to her room.

So that they both could work on the project. Together.

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Reading this book, I could recall the "Black Lives Matter" protest which had been going on for George Floyd.

And I've been wondering the same.

This has been going for ages.

And nothing has changed.

Why are people still suffering just because of the colour they were born with? How does that make them any inferior than the others?

Just.. how? It's just a colour!

I got more teary eyed when I read the authors note in the end regarding this book he has written

Believing the dead are still “present” gave this novel even more urgency for me. I do believe that as a living person, I am obliged to honor and speak for those who can no longer speak for themselves.

Quote from the book:

Doesn’t seem fair. Nobody ever paid me any attention. I skated by. Kept my head low.

Now I’m famous.

P.S : Let's not wait for them to become famous. Let's speak out. Today, and now.