Ghost by Jason Reynold (208 pages) is about a 13-year-old boy who lives with his mom because his dad is in jail for trying to harm his mom and him. The boy’s name is Castle Cranshaw but he likes to go by Ghost. Castle loves sunflower seeds and he has a daily thing where he goes to Mr. Charles’s store after school to get them. Ghost’s mom works at a cafeteria in a hospital and is studying to be a nurse so she isn’t home often and is very tired when she gets home. He thinks that the sport that defines him is basketball, but he finds out later he has a true passion for running. His passion for running came from the night his dad got drunk and shot at him and his mom. They ran to Mr. Charles’s store and hid in the freezer until the police were called and they could return home safely. His dad is now serving 10 years in prison for that night. Castle gets in quite a lot of trouble at school but one day he gets suspended and he has to call his mom, but Ghost doesn’t want to call his mom so instead, he calls his track coach to come to get him and tells his Principal it’s his uncle. Castle practices with the team a couple of times. He needs track shoes so that he can keep practicing with the team, so he goes to a sports store and ends up stealing some shoes. Ghost tells Coach that his mom got them for him. He loves his team and all the newbies that are new to the team along with him. Their names are Patty, Lu, Sunny, and Castle himself. Coach takes the newbie team out every year for Chinese dinner. Castle is surprised when Coach says that for the newbies to start eating they have to share one secret about them that no one knows. Castle decides to share the story about his dad and it helps him become closer to the team. On the days before the meet Coach finds out, Ghost stole the shoes and gets very mad. Then the meet comes. Castle runs his 100-meter dash and… we don’t know if he wins the race or not. We will have to find out in the 2nd book in the series called Patina.

One of the most interesting characters in the novel is Coach. Coach really cares for Ghost and for all the people on the team as well. He is an ex-Olympian and he won a silver medal, but his dad sold it one night for 20 bucks. Like Ghost, Coach has a father with addiction as well. This shows that they both lived a hard childhood and that they understand each other’s struggles. He coaches the defender’s track team but also has a taxi service during the day. He plays an important role in the story by being Ghost’s coach on the track team. 

Another favorite character is Lu. Lu is albino and is ashamed of it a little bit. He is very fast, so he is a good challenger for Castle. Coach likes him a lot. Lu’s mom is very crazy at the meet’s and loves to show her support. Castle often thinks of Lu as his competition and tries his best to be faster than him. They eventually become good friends after the newbie dinner. He plays an important role in the story by challenging Castle in running. 

One very important passage from the story happens when Coach gives castle a motivational talk, “Trouble is, you can't run away from yourself." Coach snatched the towel from his shoulder, folded into a perfect square, and set it in the space between us. "Unfortunately," he said, "ain't nobody that fast.” Coach is very kind to Castle and understands his life and his story. He understands why he runs and that he has a true passion for it. Coach had a rough childhood as well and he ran as well and in this quote, I think he is also talking to himself a little. Accepting your past and moving on with life is the best thing someone can do. This is an important theme in the story because Ghost’s past is very bad and he took that past and turned it into a passion for running and learning some important lessons about himself and life.

I give this book 4.5 silver bullets out of 5. I would recommend this book to all my friends. It is a story that pulls you in and makes you create your own image of Castle in your mind. Also, Jason Reynolds is really good at giving the side characters a back story and connecting them to the book, and personally connecting them to Ghost. I also love how it is a story that could really be someone’s life, and people all over the world could relate to the story.