A review by dead_vole_jumpscare
Ghost by Jason Reynolds

4.25

ok this book does a really good job of a) having good, realistic, likeable, complex characters and b) showing that character development isn't going from bad to good or good to perfect, but rather that mistakes are made and consequences dealt with and development actually has to develop. it shows something that's generally considered Bad being a very understandable, rational move for a character to do, connecting character and motive to consequence, which is especially cool given that it humanizes a black "criminal" teenage boy. also, the fact that ghost's father being absent is a thing, and is a big thing, but isn't THE thing is cool, because it once again takes a really shallow anti-black idea and exposes the depth and nuance that surrounds the situation instead of either pretending that single black motherhood/incarcerated black men and fathers aren't disproportionately prominent in the world or just playing into a stereotype. also, the way that aave is used for the dialogue AND narration is very cool, especially since some ppl consider it "improper" english and this is a published book. the reason for it being a 4.25 is that the plot is a little too simplistic imo, but good for elementary school readers i'd think