22. Ghost by Jason Reynolds

 

22. Ghost by Jason Reynolds


Reynolds, J. (2016). Ghost. NY: Atheneum.

This is the story of Castle Cranshaw-aka Ghost.  He is a middle-school, inner-city kid whose mother works in a hospital cafeteria and father is in prison.  His life seems to be headed in a troublesome direction because his is always in trouble at school.   One afternoon he catches the attention of the coach of an inner-city track team by racing his fastest runner.  The coach asks him to be part of the team, and his life begins to change.  He feels apart of a family-which he hasn’t felt since the night his dad pointed a gun at him and his mother. He tries to do the right things but the temptation of a new pair of running shoes does him in.  He steels the shoes from the sporting goods store.  It almost cost him his spot on the track team when Coach finds out. He and Coach have a heart to heart about why he stole the shoes.  He didn’t want to ask him mom because she works so hard for them.  Coach makes him clean his cab and then go to the store and apologize for steeling the shoes.  Coach then pays for the shoes, and he is able to participate in his first big race.

This book is overflowing with symbolism.  The sneakers he steals are an important symbol.  They represent status.  When he first joins the team, he notices all of the other member’s shoes. When he sees the shoes in the store, he calls them “silver bullets” as if somehow, they can magically make him run faster. After Coach finds out they are stolen and forbids him to wear them to practice, he feels he can no longer preform as he did before. His bedroom is another symbol.  It represents the trauma he went through with his father. In the beginning of the story, Castle will not live in his bedroom.  He sleeps in the living room, dresses in the bathroom.  His feelings begin to change throughout the book.  He decides to get dressed for his first big race in his bedroom.  He is putting the trauma behind him. 

PBS learning media has a web site with some good resources about the book including lesson activities about the symbolism in the book. 

https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/ghost/

 


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