Ninth Ward

Treasure Island: Runaway Gold

Towers Falling

Black Brother, Black Brother

Paradise on Fire

Bad Apple

Becoming Beatriz

Ruby on the Outside

A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes.

Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better.

Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.

Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father's actions.

Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and socio-political layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of today's world, and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Ninth Ward

Jewell Parker Rhodes, 2010

Treasure Island: Runaway Gold

Jewell Parker Rhodes, 2023

Towers Falling

Jewell Parker Rhodes, 2016

Black Brother, Black Brother

Jewell Parker Rhodes, 2020

Paradise on Fire

Jewell Parker Rhodes, 2021

Bad Apple

T. R. Burns, 2012

Becoming Beatriz

Tami Charles, 2019

Ruby on the Outside

Nora Raleigh Baskin, 2015