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Books are mirrors that teach us more about ourselves. Here are some of my favorites.

What are you reading?

Some of my 6th graders have been pestering me to read this book. It was fine lol. The story was a bit predictable, the characters somewhat two-dimensional imo, but hey— it‘s a book written for kids, so lemme not be too harsh. Ultimately I think it‘s a net positive ofc that my students have access to culturally relevant YA lit, & I am ecstatic they love reading so much that they want to talk about & share their fav books with their teachers :)

Had to go with this great one from Jason Reynolds because we are currently in the peak of track season with my son. Ghost is about a boy who wants to play ball, but when a track coach takes him under his wing and sees his potential for running his life takes a turn for the better. 🏃🏽‍♂️

#middlegrademonday

I‘ve watched a docfilm short and heard several interviews with Jason Reynolds, but this is the first of his books that I‘ve read. A YA story of home struggles, school difficulties, and a track coach who is there to inspire, motivate, and dispense love to kids in need of all of his wisdom and the team camaraderie he provides these young kids trying to find their way in the world.

Okay. Recently reread this book because track season has started. Honestly, all the feels. My track team probably knows more about me than anyone else in my life. I have run something similar to just about every workout that he does. My coaches have inspired me and pushed me so far. The characters were good, came to life, and most importantly, felt like an actual team. If I wasn‘t already on an awesome track team, this book would make me join one.

Castle Cranshaw, aka Ghost, learns to run when he & his mom wake in the middle of the night to escape their abusive household, Ghost‘s gun-toting, alcoholic father hot on their heels. It‘s the story of a lonely, angry kid finding purpose & community. I‘m so glad it exists. Between its pages, you can find some gorgeous, impactful passages, interweaving light & dark. But you can also find the phrase “fart licks.” This is a book written FOR kids.👇🏻

A good middle grade read about sports (track in this case) and coaches and teammates that ultimately save lives. I loved Ghost‘s relationship with Mr. Charles and how it helps him overcome the trauma of his past. Hoping to teach this one to my students this year. 🌟🙌

Castle Cranshaw, a.k.a. Ghost, has only thought of running as a means of very literal escape. After finding himself on the Defenders track team, Ghost realizes that running can take him places he had never dreamed.

The growth of purpose in Ghost from the first pages to the last was great to see. He found a place where he could thrive as himself.

#authoramonth @Soubhiville

“..you can‘t run away from who you are, but what you can do is run toward who you want to be.”

Great story that takes on bullying, poverty, and trying to fit in, among other themes. Castle a.k.a. Ghost is a compelling character to like, and this is an inspiring story. I will look up the rest of the books in the Track series. 👍
#AuthorAMonth

Yup. Lived up to the hype. Starting the next one on audio tomorrow. What a fantastic middle grade novel!

#Authoramonth2022 @Soubhiville

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jason Reynolds is great. Despite not being an athlete myself, I enjoyed my daughter‘s track and soccer experiences. That and my love for Jason Reynolds drew this series to my attention. I enjoyed the track aspect and the MC‘s experiences. I love how Reynolds can blend difficult childhood experiences with common ones in an easy way. I‘m looking forward to the rest of the series.
#AuthorAMonth

I really enjoyed this middle grade book from July‘s #authoramonth Great on #audio and encouraged me to keep walking until I finished it. @Soubhiville #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I realized I hadn‘t read anything from July‘s #authoramonth pick, so I “ran” to get this from the library. Actually, I don‘t run. I hurried to check it out on Libby yesterday, and I read it in a few hours. It‘s good!

This morning I put the next one in the series on hold, and it‘s now available.

I enjoyed this #audio. It is both sad and humorous. I like this name / title : ghost 👻But I felt it is very short. Could have been better with few more pages. Anyhow I am trying to read the next one in this #series 3.5⭐️
#AuthorAmonth2022 #seriesread2022 #bookspinbingo #AuthorAMonth #MGbooks

I love Jason Reynolds, but this one was not my favorite. I listened to this on audio and the narrator was not all that. Still, one of my kids is in track and cross country, so it was fun to get a peek into this world. @Soubhiville #AuthorAMonth

I prefer MG to YA and enjoyed this story about a middle school kid tapped for the track team!

Castle (aka Ghost) doesn‘t fit in at his school because of his mom‘s job and financial situation. His dad is also in prison for violently attacking them. He shows up to track practice and runs against them as a joke, but the coach sees real promise and brings him onto the team. He helps Ghost work through his issues at home and at school. #AuthorAMonth

Excellently narrated story of a traumatized boy who learns to run to instead of running from.

I read this book over the weekend and I really got into it a just had it laying around and I read it and they way that it just all flows together, I just love. Quick reads like this are some of my favourite books to read becuase there's just so little amount of pages but I feel like there's always more story to it. I felt like I was actually in the book.

Sometimes. I like catchy titles and memorable ones, but I am also influenced by the cover art.

Tagged.
#two4tuesday @TheSpineView
Thanks for the tag @kspenmoll !

I tag anyone who wants to play and hasn‘t yet. 😁
Tag! You‘re It!

#BookReport

Still reading Invisible Women with #SheSaid

I finished the tagged on audio and read the other books as well. Quite the reading week for me.

And now my 3 weeks staycation has started. Can‘t wait to have time to read even more

#BookReport

I‘ve started the tagged on audio

I‘m still reading Invisible Women

I finished Square Haunting.

I read the other books.

A great coming of age story about a boy who finds himself through the track team. Due to a troubled home life and a “bad” neighborhood, Ghost gets into trouble at school which leads him to steal things and get into fights. However, his new track family teaches him to be better than that and that circumstances don‘t define who he is. A fast-paced middle grade book with likable characters. Fun audiobook. Will look for sequels.

I saw Jason Reynolds on a zoom call he did with my library for the March community read and just loved him. So, I grabbed Ghost from my library. This is a great, touching story about a troubled boy and the track coach who sees his potential (and sees a bit of himself in Ghost). It hits some tough topics, but without making them super heavy or uncomfortable. Now I‘m going to have to read the entire series.

I don‘t read a lot of middle grade, but I made an exception for Jason Reynolds, and I‘m so glad I did. Ghost is a great story about a very authentic-seeming kid. It‘s a positive, uplifting story that I desperately needed. I‘m going to buy the series for my boy to read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Loved this middle grade book. Ghost joins a city-wide track team and starts to come to terms with the trauma of his father having shot at him and his mother. Tackles complex issues in an understandable way. Lots of empathy for each character. Imparts lessons without feeling preachy.

Bookish song Nr. 19: Let it rock

This might be a bit to stereotypical, I'm sorry, but when the song popped up, Ghost just came to me. I saw him running through the city, making his way to a new life, building up a new kind of self-esteem and finding purpose in life. It just came to me like that and now it's here to stay...

#Booksandmusic

A great YA novel about finding ones place in life. Nicely written, I really got into the story and could relate to Ghost and his actions, even though I've never experienced what he did.

I already put the follow-ups on my To Read List 😁

A teen starts running and finds a place in the world. A classic for a reason.

Bought the series for my 6th grader but I ended up reading ahead of him. Is it bad to say I didn‘t love the protagonist? I have a thing for smart, obedient kids and this hero was not it. Still got sucked into the story though.

Day 23 - #Ghost #AugustAuthors
#Ghost #JasonReynolds

I only read one book from this author. It is the tagged book Ghost.

Today‘s #bookhaul (plus Florence and the Machine on vinyl) as a reward for getting through my summer grad school class. Now I have a bit of a break until my fall class starts (September) to read for fun!

Sunshine State Young Reader “Ghost”, by Jason Reynolds is a wonderful IR. The story tells the journey of “Ghost” AKA Castle Cranshaw. A middle school student who is struggling with an abusive father, anger issues, and trying to fit in. He finds refuge with the track team only to be accused of stealing a pair of shoes. #ucflae3414su20

Maybe cliche? but I finished this series about a group of 4 young track team members by Jason Reynolds this year, and it was so well worth it. I needed to hear those different voices in YA as someone who loves lots of classic YA literature (but it's nearly all about English/white kids).
#blackvoices (from @shyBookOwl)

ALSO this year some good ones (tagging below) 🔽

Here‘s a photo of my library stack after hearing Jason Reynolds talk last week and absorbing Ghost in two days! If it‘s not clear that I‘m #obsessed from this pic, please know that I legit cried reading Ghost. The story might seem simple on the surface, but I think there‘s a lot of substance here. Everyone can relate to it and take something important from it. I can‘t wait to read more of the Track series and more of Jason Reynolds‘ books! 💙📚

“Trouble is, you can‘t run away from yourself. ... Unfortunately, ain‘t nobody that fast.”
—————— Ghost, Jason Reynolds ——————

I have no problem reading middle school books. I‘m actually looking forward to reading this series. #booknerd #bookworm #bookchallenge

This book was about a guy who came on a field to watch the track practice and he saw the best guy on their team and noticed that everyone was cheering him up and telling him he was really fast even though ghost thought he was faster then him. Ghost got on the track and showed everyone that the guy wasn't that amazing then he left but the coach wanted him on the team, after they were trying to win the championship.THE BOOK HAS 192 PAGES.

I am posting this review late because I read it earlier in the year for a postal bookswap,

I've always heard of Jason Reynolds in the context of being a good choice for "reluctant readers." I can definitely see the appeal here with sports, single parent, outsider, urban, black representation and more. I loved that Ghost isn't perfect but that the consequences take a while to show up. I love the "found family" element.

This has been on my list forever, and it was just as good as everyone said it was! But I was surprised by how uplifting it actually was considering the backstory was dark. #TBRRead #WinterGames #JingleBallers @FantasyChick @StayCurious @Clwojick

The book Ghost is about a kid named Castle Cranshaw and nickname “Ghost” He joins a track team and struggles to deal with his past and present. This book is fiction

Great audiobook! I love Jason Reynolds and I‘m so glad to be able to finally start this series 💙SCRIBD audiobook.

If this isn‘t the cutest group of 6th graders I‘ve ever seen.... We just finished reading Ghost in our “Lit Lunch” book club - they loved it!
#schoollibraries #litsyloveslibraries #librariansoflitsy

I read this one with my 8th grade enrichment kids this nine weeks. They all hate reading and I wanted something they could relate to and enjoy. This was it. We all enjoyed the story of Ghost and his new track team and running mates. Fun book and first in a series.
#yellowcover #fallisbooked

I like the part n the quote when he says I run for me