Ghost

Jason Reynolds's Ghost is a story for 10 year olds about a boy who can run faster than almost anyone, and has never had a single lesson.

What happens

Castle Cranshaw calls himself Ghost. He's in seventh grade, he eats sunflower seeds every day, and he knows a LOT of world records. (The most balloons blown up with your nose, anyone?) He's also got, as he puts it, a lot of scream inside.

One afternoon he wanders past a track team practising in the park. A flashy boy called Lu is the fastest there, and the coach keeps saying so. That gets right under Ghost's skin. So he rolls up his jeans, tucks in his laces and lines up next to Lu in his high-tops. Nobody can say who won.

The coach wants him on the team. Ghost's mum agrees on one condition. If he messes up at school, just once, he's off. Guess what happens in the lunch hall the very next day?

Ghost tells you all of this himself, and his voice is brilliant. He's cocky and funny. He starts a comparison, gets muddled and says "Forget it." Then, out of nowhere, he'll say something about his dad or his mum's job at the hospital that stops you in your tracks. It's a book that makes you laugh and then very quietly breaks your heart.

It's American and it sounds it. Ghost says "ain't" and "nothing" where he means "anything", so a younger reader might need a page or two to settle in. It's his voice though, and it's worth it.

Before you hand it over, know that the first chapter tells how it all began. Three years ago his dad, drunk, fired a gun at Ghost and his mum as they ran out of the flat in their pyjamas. That's backstory and it's told in one short, vivid passage. There's also a fight at school that leaves a bully bleeding, and a little mild swearing.

For a child who has lived with anger at home, that opening could land hard. If your reader likes stories about real life and real feelings, this is one they'll remember for a long time.

What to read next

If they want more from the same author, try As Brave as You. Genie spends a summer in the country with his grandparents, carrying a notebook full of questions the way Ghost carries his head full of world records.