Ghost, Jason Reynolds
Ghost, Jason Reynolds
35 Rating(s)
List: $14.99 | Sale: $10.50
Club: $7.49

Ghost

Author: Jason Reynolds

Series: Track #1

Narrator: Guy Lockard

Unabridged: 3 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/30/2016


Synopsis

A National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this first electrifying novel of the acclaimed Track series from Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award–winning author Jason Reynolds.

Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.

Running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed, or will his past finally catch up to him?

About Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a 2024 MacArthur Fellow, a Kirkus Award winner, a UK Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, an Odyssey Award Winner and two-time honoree, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors, a Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was also the 2020–2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); When I Was the GreatestThe Boy in the Black SuitStampedAs Brave as YouFor Every One; the Track series (Ghost, Patina, SunnyLu, and Coach); Look Both WaysStuntboy, in the MeantimeStuntboy, In-Between TimeMiles Morales SuspendedAin’t Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); Twenty-Four Seconds from Now...; and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. His debut picture book, There Was a Party for Langston, won a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Betsy on August 10, 2016

This is a generalization, but in my experience librarians really enjoy reading within their comfort zones. They’ll travel outside of them from time to time but always they return to the books that they like the most. Children’s librarians are just the same. The fantasy readers stick to fantasy. The......more

Goodreads review by Hannah on May 03, 2017

Click here to watch a video review of this book on my channel, From Beginning to Bookend. Ghost is a deeply moving book with several important messages for young readers. Castle Crenshaw goes by the name Ghost, because he's a wicked fast runner. The first time he ran -- truly ran -- he was running fo......more

Goodreads review by Maggie on December 26, 2017

Wish I would have had this book alongside all my Beverly Cleary books back in middle school. Like Cleary, Jason Reynolds clearly remembers what it was to be a kid — the private humiliations, the silliness, the outsized misconceptions, the way the tiniest bit of support can change a day.......more

Goodreads review by Mike on November 10, 2016

I saw this on some award nomination list--I can't remember which one. And I don't really care which list it was--Ghost ought to win. It should win all the awards. It's a spectacular book with a perfect voice and exquisitely told story. I cried through the last 20% or so of the book. It's not sad--it......more

Goodreads review by Bookishrealm on March 31, 2021

Update (03/2021): I mean at this point do we expect me do give Mr. Reynolds anything less? Absolutely not. This book was just as good as I remembered and definitely one that needs to be in the hands in as many kids as possibly. As I've stated in my previous thoughts, Ghost (Castle) is such a complex......more