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Friday, June 29, 2018

Ghost by Jason Reynolds


Castle Cranshaw, nicknamed Ghost, is used to running.  When his father tries to kill his mother and himself, they must run to safety and hide.  Now with his father in prison, he spends his time trying to run from his past and his neighborhood.  He is constantly getting in fights with kids who pick on him.  

One day Ghost races another boy and wins, and he is invited to join a private track team.  As he learns how to be a runner, he also is inspired by his Olympic winning coach who came from the same neighborhood himself.  Will Ghost put away his demons to become a great athlete?

And the trouble is, we never find out.  The book goes in that direction and then just ends as he’s about to run his first race against his nemesis.  I was greatly disappointed by the ending. I guess the good thing was Ghost was finally taking his aggression out by running rather than with his fists.

I liked the character of Ghost and his journey. I also liked all the running talk as a former sprinter myself. I had never heard of this book until it was listed in the PBS Great American Read.  While I liked that this story was unique, I would not have picked it to be in the top 100 most loved books in America.

Favorite Quote:  
 
“Trouble is, you can’t run away from yourself.”

Overall, Ghost is an interesting young adult novel coming of age novel.

Book Source:  The Kewaunee Public Library

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