First, Ghost Boys does seem like a fairly balanced look how the shooting of Jerome, a 12-year-old boy, by a white police officer effects not only Jerome’s family, but the officer and his family as well. Perhaps, it is tilted a little more in Jerome’s favor, but that is to be expected. Second, this will bring up the feelings and thoughts we have on the subjects presented: Someone at the hearing yells, “Black Lives Matters.” And the father of Jerome is going to sue the […]
Children Can Experience Racism at Any Age, So There Isn’t Really Such Thing as Being “Too Young” to Learn About It
I could see this book being involved in some good classroom discussions. I can also see certain communities resisting this, and not for the right reasons. From what I can see, Jewell Parker Rhodes’ body of work consists largely of novels dealing with current events and social commentary, aimed at children, and Ghost Boys is no different: in this novel, we follow the spirit of a young black boy named Jerome, after he has been shot by a police officer while playing with a toy […]
A nominee for Best Book of 2016
If you’ve never read Jewell Parker Rhodes, you absolutely must. Her prose is light and crisp at once, and she tells a story like no other. You inhabit her characters fully, and they are strong, sensitive young women. I’ve read Ninth Ward and Bayou Magic, both of which tackle current issues and also include an intriguing thread of magical realism that’s friendly to young readers. I’ve taught excerpts from Ninth Ward to my college Composition I course, and if I was to theme a course […]
The magic within yourself
After reading Jewell Parker Rhodes’ most excellent Ninth Ward, I was excited to learn that her newest children’s novel, Bayou Magic, was released this year. So I quickly requested it from my library and devoured it on my train ride to my in-laws’ house. I’ve come to decide that Ms. Rhodes is one of my new favorite children’s book authors. She is a terrific writer with incredible capabilities in character development and mythology construction. Bayou Magic takes place in the bayous of Louisiana, in more […]