To participate in the AD assignment you must register and pay an additional $10.
Feedback on the attendees' assignments will be given at the event either by the Art Director or the Editor. Feedback will be given verbally in an open format, so all attendees can learn from each other's critiques.
The Art Director Assignment is due October 4, 2024. Please send a jpg or pdf to Berrie (epa-ic@scbwi.org) by October 4, 2024. Subject - 2024 Art Director Assignment/Your name.
Title: Ghost Boys
Will this be part of a series?: No
Author: Jewell Parker Rhodes
Genre: Contemporary fiction with historical elements, ghost story
Age Range: 10-14
Trim: Front cover only, 5 1/4 X 7 5/8
Comp Titles:
The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
Tight by Torey Maldonado
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Sales handle:
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.
Synopsis:
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.
Main Characters:
Jerome Rodgers - This character is shot at the beginning of the novel and spends the remainder of the novel viewing his world as a ghost, seeing the repercussions of his death on his family, Officer Moore's family, and his community.
Carlos - A new student from San Antonio that befriends Jerome. The student brings a toy gun to school and offers for Jerome to borrow it.
Grandma - A spiritual character that can sense Jerome is near and looks out for her family throughout the novel.
Emmett Till - Nonfiction element. Murdered in 1955 for whistling at a white woman by her husband and his friends. They kidnapped him and brutally killed him. His death led to the American Civil Rights movement.