Ghost (RUN SERIES): 1

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I had my head sandwiched between the mattress and my pillow, something I got used to doing whenever they were going at it, when my mom crashed into my bedroom.

Of middle-grade education professionals and middle-grade novel enjoyers, I am definitely in the minority of this one. Though he experiences family trauma, resulting in his father going to prison, and has committed a crime himself, the reader can tell he is sensitive and has a conscience. Either Ghost coupled with The Crossover or a novel I have done in previous years, Peak by Roland Smith (which I am not totally enamored with, either). He is bullied for not having the right kit and made to feel inferior to the other children on the team, and this leads him to make some poor choices. I just sit there with the other people waiting for the bus, except I’m never actually waiting for it.They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.

Charles can barely hear a thing, which is why he’s always yelling at everybody and everybody’s always yelling at him. Like Cleary, Jason Reynolds clearly remembers what it was to be a kid — the private humiliations, the silliness, the outsized misconceptions, the way the tiniest bit of support can change a day. Ghost would be at home both in a middle grade and YA section, and thus is of interest to pre-teens and younger teens, especially ones who will see some aspect of their own lives reflected in Ghost’s. When I'm not reading, I also like knitting, crafty things, baking, eating, walking, taking photos, watching traumatising medical dramas and nurturing a close relationship with my sofa and blankets. Y'all probably won't catch me reviewing another middle grade novel, but just know, this book was an exception for a reason.It's no secret that I love everything with Jason Reynolds's name on it, but GHOST was really something special. Ghost has a lot of other stuff going on in his life that are obstacles to his success: the reason his dad’s in jail (for shooting at him and his mom), the fact that his mom’s overworked and they’re still poor, and a whole lot of anger.

Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this first electrifying novel of the acclaimed Track series from Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award–winning author Jason Reynolds. And as Coach takes him under his wing, Ghost discovers that even if you can’t run away from where you come from, you can run towards where you want to be.But when he wanders onto a field where a track team is training, Ghost proves he has what it takes to run with the best of them. This is a sensitive, realistic look at a young person dealing with trauma and trying to avoid the crushing effects of racism, poverty, and abuse; but the novel is never preachy or heavy. I loved that Ghost isn't perfect but that the consequences take a while to show up (not as didactic as some middle readers can be. Coach stands in brilliant contract to Ghost's father (who is at the center of the trauma Ghost has suffered), and when HIS backstory is finally revealed, the story coheres into this perfect, multifaceted-diamond start to what is sure to be an incredible middle grade series. You have this kid who does a number of "bad" things, but it's hard to get mad at him because his reasons, for the most part, are good.