Point of View

The novel is narrated in the third-person, always from the perspective of Jerome, a young Black boy from Chicago who lived with his parents, grandmother, and younger sister until he was shot and killed by a police officer for playing with a toy gun. He is consumed by loneliness after he becomes a ghost, wandering around and trying to understand the factors that led to his death while also attempting to navigate the combination of being separated from his family and unseen by most people except for Sarah, the daughter of the officer who shot him.

Jewell Parker Rhodes does not place any limitations on the access to Jerome’s inner thoughts, allowing the reader to understand his true motivations, fears, and conflicts. In his childlike manner, Jerome is often reticent with verbalizing his fears and insecurities with the people in his life that he...