Book Review: “Ghost” by Jason Reynolds

Ghost

By: Jason Reynolds

Date of Publication: August 30th, 2016

Genre: Sports Fiction

“RUNNING. That’s all that Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But never for a track team. Nope his game has always been ball. But when Ghost impassively challenges an elite sprinter to a race- and wins- the Olympic tmedalist track coach sees he has something: crazy natural talent. Thing is, Ghost has something else: a lot of anger, and a past that he tries to outrun. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed and meld with the team, or will his past finally catch up with him.”

Recently, I was given my summer reading project, and was required to read this book Ghost. Majority of the book was about a teenager trying to find his identity while navigating his new life on the track. Ghost is a book about a regular kid who, while trying to navigate and find his way through life, shows up on a track field one day, and his life changes. His dedicated trainer, Coach Brody, recognizes his incredible ability to run and encourages Ghost throughout the story. He sticks to coaching his kids and developed a deeper relationship with Ghost as a big brother figure.

Ghost- Summary 

From the very beginning, our character was introduced. He showed us these random world records. This is the start of a new adventure. With his raw talent, Ghost finds a new hobby- running. Finally, he realizes his fondness for it, all the while figuring out how to value friendship and good relationships and harness his expertise in track. Ghost himself, as an average teenage kid, was brave and determined with a little bit of spunk. He steals a pair of shoes, returns them, gets into fights with another kid in school.  

Castle Cranshaw

Also, he grows mentally, and understands that facing his past is the only way to move through it.  The story was very touching. We find out that Ghost had a kind-of dark past with his father. His dad was arrested. He shot as his own wife and child. This dark past continues to upset him. Certainly, he had a broken family which is what he had to work through and eventually mature. 

“You can’t run away from who you are, but what you can do is run toward who you want to be.”

Friends

He also meets some new people who eventually become friends. We were introduced to a fiery “Patty” Jones, Sunny Lancaster, Lu Richardson, Coach Brody. Ghost finds out he likes his team, and continues to run track even after getting in some school drama.

In the end, Ghost, figures out his life a little. He precedes to run in his meets, and appreciates his coach and his team. Finally, he made up his mind that it wasn’t good to be alone and ended up with a cool group of friends that he liked.

One word to describe the author’s style is action packed. The book was really exciting too! Basically, I was on the edge of my seat during the story, always wondering what comes next. Also, I do really like the book, but I wish it was a little bit challenging, but for a teens-and-tweens -based book, it was really nice. Overall, this is a good chapter book that I would definitely recommend for younger kids to read- it’s not a hard-read, and overall it is really interesting. 

I would definitely would rate the book a nine-out-of-ten.

Phoenix Rudolph

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