In the aftermath of the killing of each of these children, stories designed to assign blame to the victims and exonerate the perpetrators arose in the media. The inciting event of the novel-the killing of Jerome Rogers by a police officer-is all but ripped from the headlines and is similar to the killing of Tamir Rice, who was killed in Cleveland, Ohio in 2014 as he played with a toy gun.

Black Lives Matter coalesced in reaction to the killings of Black children, teens, and men, including 17-year-old Trayvon Martin as the teen walked home from a snack run.īlack Lives Matter is the central historical and cultural context for the novel. It relies on social media to help organize activities and protest actions.

The book revolves around the life and death of 12-year-old Jerome Rogers, who is playing with a toy gun when. Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a. Only the living can make the world better. The book is a comment on the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement that came to major prominence in 2020. A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes. Ghost Boys Resources - Children's Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes Ghost Boys Resources Let's Stay in Touch Subscribe to Jewell’s mailing list and stay up to date on the latest news and events. Mass, nonviolent protest is essential to the movement, and unlike American civil rights movements of past decades, Black Lives Matter has no centralized leadership. Ghost Boys is a middle-grade novel written by Jewell Parker Rhodes, and was first published by Little, Brown & Company in 2018. Black Lives Matter is a modern civil rights movement designed to counter brutal policing and the dehumanization of Black people of all genders and ages.

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes