Reynolds, Jason. Ghost. Atheneum/Caitlyn Diouhy. 192 pages. TR $17.99, ISBN 978-1481450157
“You can’t run away from who you are, but what you can do is run toward who you want to be” – Coach from Jason Reynolds, Ghost.
Enter the mind of Castle “Ghost” Crenshaw, a young, talented Black tween who is not only a naturally fast runner, but also someone who has gone through complex situations in his young life. At 11 years old, Ghost and his mother has already experienced running away from his enraged father who shot at them with a gun in their inner city home. He’s also been the target of laughter at his middle school because of where he lives, his tight fitting clothing and worn out sneakers. While things may seem like its already downhill for young Ghost, one day he’s discovered by the coach of the city’s best track team The Defenders and asked to try out. As coach begins to learn more about Ghost, he tries his best not only to help him, but also to keep him on track. Will Ghost be able to keep his promises to coach and his mother to be a member of the prestigious Defenders, or will he flop and return to his troubled ways? Find out in this emotionally intense, character-driven quick read that will make you fall in love with Ghost from the very beginning.
Lee, Stacey. Outrun the Moon. G.P. Putnam Sons Books For Young Readers, 2016. 400 pages. Tr. $17.99, ISBN 978-0399175411
Grades 9-12. In Chinese culture, it is said that the name given to you at birth represents who you are destined to become. Wong Mei Xi, translated as “beautiful thought” was truly who 15-year old Mercy Wong was: a strong-willed, goal oriented, Chinese-American girl with dreams and aspirations. Born to a launderer father and a mother who was Chinatown’s famous fortune teller, Mercy was determined to make her dreams of getting into St. Claire’s School for Girls come true. Knowing the odds aren’t in her favor, Mercy used all she learned from Mrs. Lowry’s Book for Business Minded Women to get herself into the prestigious school after making a risky business arrangement. While Mercy’s time at St. Claire’s was cut short after an earthquake wrecked through the city, this was the point where indifferences were put aside and race/class no longer mattered. As a work of historical fiction, Lee truly embraced the events that took place in 1906; from the earthquake on April 18 at 5:12 am to the racial discrimination Chinese Americans faced in San Francisco. There were also no shortage of conflicts either between Mercy and secondary characters like Elodie and Headmistress Crouch, who showed distain towards her from the beginning. Lee’s masterful writing brings diction and narrative to life, allowing the personalities of her characters to shine and the use of spoken Cantonese dialect and culture to embrace Mercy’s identity. Soulful and heartwarming, this is one book you won’t want to put down.
Stacks, Imagination, Infinite Possibilties 