Ghost (Defenders Track Team Series #1) by Jason Reynolds
Product Details
Web ID: 5364336Ghost is a novel that did not challenge me
When I first opened up the novel “Ghost" by Jason Reynolds, I could not find myself to set it down. The book was interesting and intrigued me, while still talking about serious issues involved with children and growing teenagers. But as I continued reading, the novel became bland and repetitive. As a rather talented reader, I enjoy reading something challenging, so I can test my skills and dissect the novel into pieces. This novel was not the case. I loved the introduction to Castle Crenshaw, also referred to as Ghost. I also enjoyed how the story was entirely written in first person. As the novel progresses, the reader learns more information about Castle, including his background, his troublesome occurrences that happen on the daily, and even his daily where-abouts that Castle enjoys visiting. The novel often spends several pages simply talking about Brandon Simmons, Castle's bully. Reynolds seemed as if he enjoyed explaining each individual character in further detail, so one can connect and understand each student or parent involved in Castle’s daily routine. But the novel itself became unoriginal and cliché when Castle raced the talented runner, Lu, and won in clothing that was not fit for a runner. After this occurrence, I started to lose interest in the novel itself. While I believe that the theme and main idea of this novel is very valuable and necessary for teenagers to learn about, the story itself is not properly introduced nor kept at a steady pace. For instance, it took approximately 30 pages for Castle to even learn about the track team, then in a short amount of pages, it flipped his world upside down. I also don’t enjoy how this story is a severe hyperbole. For instance, Castle exaggerates every occurrence that happens to him, and it causes the novel to be severely exaggerated and untrue. This novel is also very unrealistic, and has a bland plot that makes it almost impossible for a reader to read the entire book in one sitting. The book made me feel sympathetic for the main character at times, but also confident in his ability to accept his past and move forward. I gained an extra liking for Coach Brody, who changes Castle altogether, and influences him to alter his mindset in order to move forward, rather than running away from his past. The audience reading this novel should be young children, estimated around elementary school. This book was not challenging to read, and can be easily understood by the common person. After reviewing this novel, I concluded that this novel was nowhere near my favorite, and an average book for a middle schooler to read. I hoped for more when I read this novel, and was not pleased with the cliché ending.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Pretty great book
I had to read this book for school and it was a pretty good book. It tells you a lot about the character and about his life. It’s a fun book to read. I think the best word to describe the book is simple. Anyway I would mostly recommend this book for kids around the ages 8 -11+. You should give it a try.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Described mostly the character
This book is about a kid named Castle Crenshaw who was beaten as a little kid and had an alcoholic father. Castle was beaten by his father multiple times and had to learn how to run fast. He soon joins a track team and has a lot of competition. He has a strong relationship with his coach that brought him into the team. My favorite part of this book is when Ghost got in a fight with his bully Brandon that threw a drumstick at Ghost and got beaten. If you want to know the struggles of living in a rough part of town I would recommend this book.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Amazing! Couldn’t put it down!
Holy Goodness wrapped up in yellow. From start to finish, the story of Ghost, hopping back and forth between making mistakes, and learning from them, was hard to put down. Castle Crenshaw, self-nicknamed Ghost, wants to be a basketball star, but ends up on a track team. He’s got a lot of talent, fast as anything, but maybe not fast enough to run from himself. Check. It. Out!
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com