Jason Reynolds has done it again, moved me, made me think, made me feel, made me fall in love with characters and words.
(Other Jason Reynold's books I have read: All American Boys, Long Way Down, For Everyone)
Matt's mom Daisy recently passed...breast cancer....his world feels backwards and wrong. He is trying to figure out how to live his life without her, she was very much the center of his world. His father isn't handling the loss of Daisy any better than Matt. Matt is lucky even in this awful time. People in his life, in his community have tried to help him each in their own way. His best friend Chris tries to treat Matt "normally." Mr. Ray has stepped in to make sure Matt is doing ok and isn't completely unsupervised. He even gives Matt a job at his funeral home.
It's there that Matt learns that he isn't alone in his pain and grief. He witnesses it in others at the funerals of their loves ones. And during this time Matt meets a girl. A girl he likes. A girl who might just like him too. And things begin to feel ok again.
Reynolds writes in such an authentic voice, I could hear Matt, hear his Brooklyn (making me homesick for my hometown) and feel his pain. I could also feel his healing when it begins. One of my favorite things about how Reynolds writes his characters is that he writes the way the young people he is writing about (and for) talk removing any intimidation many young people may feel when approaching books.
While not as gut wrenching as Boys or Long Way, The Boy in the Black Suit defiantly packs an emotional punch.
(Finished July 1, 2018)
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