Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2018

BOOK BREAK #3

Inspiration Book:

Ghost boys by Rhodes, Jewell Parker — Thorndike Press, a part of Gale, a Cengage Company, 2018: -Fic-; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 3.0. After seventh-grader Jerome is shot by a white police officer, he observes the aftermath of his death and meets the ghosts of other fallen black boys including historical figure Emmett Till. NSSTB List 2019

Rationale: I had planned to write about book selection as a connection with the latest School Library Connection (May/June 2020, pp. 38-40) article “Turn Students into Collection Developers” by Courtney Pentland, and then connect those comments and ideas with the Inspiration Book Ghost Boys. I will save my thought on book selection for a future post.

I did not intend to do three weeks of BOOK BREAK entries, but several events happened in this country that provided the impetus for another BOOK BREAK. What were those events? A police an abusive arrest of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis and a shooting of a black man in Georgia by a group of whites. Why and how could these events connect with a BOOK BREAK? The Inspiration Book is about a police shooting in Chicago and the connection with other black youths like Emmett Till who have been killed.

Police shootings are a tough topic. Police arrest abuse is a tough topic. Vigilante shooting is a tough topic. Featuring tough topics is how My Books Alive began about a decade ago. When I read Ghost Boys I wondered how I could use the book or introduce it to a class or a student, not because of the seriousness of the topic, but because of the ghosting business. In my small private school ghosts aren’t always welcome. But I knew that this book was too good and too vital to not add it to the collection. In fact, I wondered how I’d handle the books aloud to a friend. She wanted to read it from my description. We talked and I still didn’t have a resolution in my mind. You see, in a school, where our budgets are so tight, I don’t like to have a book sit on the shelf--I want kids and teachers reading books on tough topics and doing research. Here I had a good book that needed the opportunity to share.

And, those recent police arrest and vigilante shootings provided the need and reason to have Ghost Boys in the collection. And, I also had the reason to do a BOOK BREAK. Serendipitous things do happen just when they’re needed. Check out the last two week’s entries about where I get ideas for BOOK BREAK. https://www.mybooksalive.com and https://www.mybooksalive.com/2020/05/night-diary-by-veera-hiranandani-2018.html

 Current events are another source of ideas, and probably the most relevant and timely.

Outline for a BOOK BREAK for the Inspiration Book, Ghost Boys:

1. Preparation: gather newspaper headlines and/or news clip of the Georgia vigilante shooting and police arrest abuse in Minneapolis. (Or,if these are no longer in the news: Trevon Martin, East St. Louis, Illinois, etc.) Projection capability for Book Trailer

1. A library needs to have books on many topics and many points of view. Sometimes the point of view presented, may not be one you like. Sometimes the topic is one that makes you squirm. On TV news reports and in newspapers recently there have been information about an abusive arrest and a shooting..
2. (Hold up newspaper headline or show a news clip.) The topics represented in these headlines are tough to talk about. They’re tough to understand. There are always two sides to the story. We need to get to the facts.
3. View Book Trailer.  https://www.teachingbooks.net/booktrailer.cgi?id=4630

Author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells us the story of Ghost Boys.

4. Ms. Rhodes says that only the living can make things better. What can you do to improve race relations in our school? Our town? Our country?
5. My idea, for you, read Ghost Boys, pass it around among your friends to read. Then I’d like all the readers to come to the library and we’ll do some taking about a tough topic.

Teaching Books, the resource I frequently turn to for ideas, has gathered four outstanding teaching tools to use if you plan a student study of Ghost Boys. Check out each resource, and pick and choose what you would like to use.

Educator Guide from author Jewell Parker Rhodes (far ranging excellent resources) http://jewellparkerrhodes.com/children/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GHOST-BOYS-Educator-Guide-FINAL.pdf

Curriculum Connections from Vermont Department of Libraries https://libraries.vermont.gov/sites/libraries/files/DCFBookReviewsQuestions19-20.pdf#page=54

Teaching Ideas from Texas Bluebonnet Award 2019-2020 (extensive resource ideas) https://texasbluebonnetaward2020.wordpress.com/ghost-boys/

Reader’s Theater Script from Texas Bluebonnet Award 2019-2020 (could use this script as part of BOOK BREAK) https://texasbluebonnetaward2020.wordpress.com/ghost-boys/

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