GHOST – Running in hopes of a better life

Ghost: The Track Series, book 1: Jason Reynolds: 9781508281641: Amazon.com: Books

“I can’t run away from who I am, but I can run toward who I want to be.”  (Reynolds, 2017)

Story Synopsis 

Ghost is a 2017 children’s fiction novel written by Jason Reynolds. The story focuses on the life of Castle Cranshaw – nicknamed Ghost throughout the book – who is a lost and misunderstood, black teenage boy and is currently navigating the dangerous roads of his own life. He is scarred from a disturbing life events he experienced by his father when he was a young child, and bullying from other students at school. Without the right role models in his life, Ghost leads a different life than other adolescents. 

He finds purpose and meaning in his life when he started running the track during track and field tryouts at the spur of the moment. He is immediately noticed for his gift in running, and finally feels a sense of meaning in his life, however, he still feels a disconnect between himself and the other runners on the team.

What Ghost learns along the way is that although he may have assumed he was only living a troubled and uncertain life, others in his circle were not living perfect lives either. It is this connection which helps Ghost feel like he belongs to something meaningful and is able to begin to overcome the past that haunts his present life and threatens his future. It is up to Ghost to run on the right track to a better life.   

Overall Opinions and Commentary

I found this book to resonate well with teenagers. The book is written from the protagonist’s perspective (first-person) and the author, Jason Reynolds, does an exemplary job in adjusting the vernacular to match that of a teenager growing up in the twenty-first century. I appreciate the choice of the book being written in first-person because I feel that Ghost is actually speaking to me. He does not find a sense of trust or belonging with anyone in his life, but he is able to really confide in me, the reader, to tell his life story. 

This book really emphasizes two critical messages. The first message is that one cannot judge a person from what they see on the outside. It is difficult to assume that people live picture-perfect lives just by how a person presents themselves on the exterior. The second message follows the first message which is the power of storytelling. Storytelling holds great power in amplifying a person’s lived experiences and sharing it with others to find possible commonalities with someone else’s life to our own. Through this type of personal sharing are we able to build a community with people where we feel a sense of friendship and belonging established. 

In sum, I would highly recommend this book to all pre-teens, teenagers, and adults. It is a simple and emotional read for the age category specified. I am also recommending this book to amplify the voices of Black authors such as the talented Jason Reynolds and his writing of this book. 

– Dante La Penna (JI 142)

One thought on “GHOST – Running in hopes of a better life

  1. Wow, Dante, thank you for sharing this amazingly thoughtful and well-written book review. Until reading your review I had never heard of this book; however, your well-written story synopsis has made me want to pick up a copy for myself. In your book review you highlight such an important message “one cannot judge a person from what they see on the outside,” as educators we should know that our students are coming from a range of different backgrounds and that we can never assume that we know exactly what is happening with a student by just judging what we can see on the outside.

    – Samuel Weeks (JI142)

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