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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
sad
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This is the next addition to my BLM YA list. It’s taking the conversation about police violence and young black people and making it accessible to audiences that aren’t quite ready for the rest of my BLM YA list (e.g. THUG, Dear Martin, etc.). And it was done masterfully. As a reader, I felt like this was, in part, a story about finding compassion in the anger. Not placing blame where it doesn’t belong and coming together to heal. Fabulous novel about the grief and consequences of police violence.
As a teacher and sometimes unenthusiastic reader myself, I like to read children’s chapter books. I read this book because my fourth grader was reading it at the time and I wanted to be able to talk about it with him. It goes back and forth from the perspective of a Black boy who was murdered by the police and perspective of the cop’s daughter. The daughter is the only person who can see the boy since he is a ghost, and he teaches her about the true previous murders of Black boys that happened before him. He focuses a lot on Emmett Till, specifically. I liked this book, but go back and forth on whether I feel it was a little too neatly wrapped and feel-good from the point of view of the white daughter. There is confrontation between the daughter and her dad, the cop, at the end, but from what I remember there is reconciliation, which idk if I agree with. But again, it’s also written for a 10 year old so its an amazing conversation starter for kids just learning about the realities of racism.
The story is so important and I like how it instills hope that things will change. I just didn’t care for the style of writing. Very short sentences, odd use of commas, not poetic.
I don't even know where to begin with this book. I loved it for many reasons, but especially the truth that it represents. This book needs to be read to anyone who has experienced racil injustices or has been the victim of bullying.
This book is heart breaking. It's a type of book that makes you really think, it breaks down walls and barriers and the words are so honest.
With the soft wording this is a book that could be easily recommended to children in an aid to educate.
With the soft wording this is a book that could be easily recommended to children in an aid to educate.