Insta Review: The Boy in the Black Suit, by Jason Reynolds

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Another bittersweet, complicated story of grief and survival by #jasonreynolds . Mike Miller’s mother is dead. She was sick, and that was hard, but now she’s gone – and he has no idea how to move on. To help his father pay the bills, Mike takes a part-time job at the funeral home that buried his mother…and finds himself sitting in on funerals, finding solace in the grief of others as they mourn the loss of their loved ones. Mike is navigating his teen years, his father’s recurring alcohol problem, his changing relationship with his friends, his first love – all against the backdrop of the funeral home, of loss, of his black suit. I loved the simplicity of this story. I loved that Mike was an African American character that was deep and complicated and more than just a stereotype. Add in an excellent audiobook narrator, and I wish I had more thumbs to put up 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽The Boy in the Black Suit doesn’t try to be anything except what it is – a collection of everyday moments, the mundane aftermath of loss. But stories like this are powerful bridge builders; examples that heartbreak doesn't discriminate. No matter what we look like on the outside, we all feel grief and hope and pain and love. More of this, please. #stabsummerreading

A post shared by Ms. Fitz (she/her) (@fitzbetweentheshelves) on Jul 1, 2017 at 11:47am PDT