About 4 h 15 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 9 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
Seventh-grader Castle Cranshaw, who calls himself Ghost, wants to play basketball until an impulsive challenge at a track practice reveals his talent for sprinting. Coach Brody offers him a place on the Defenders, but staying out of fights at school is a condition of belonging. Ghost first learned how fast he could run when his father fired a gun at him and his mother; now his anger and the embarrassment of having less money than his teammates complicate his new start.
Reader notes
Funny, conversational first-person narration keeps this middle-grade sports novel lively without softening Ghost’s fear or shame. Training and friendships matter alongside the races, and the opening volume of the Track series deals plainly with poverty and the aftermath of domestic violence.
How it reads
Writing style
Conversational · Direct
Tone
Earnest · Hopeful · Intimate · Warm
Structure
Linear
Driven by
Character · Plot · Relationships
Point of view
First person
Setting
School or campus
Reading complexity
Writing
2 / 5
Ideas
2 / 5
Structure
2 / 5
Background knowledge
1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
Writing
How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas
How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure
How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge
Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity
Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
No, Ghost is the first volume in the Track series. It begins with Castle Cranshaw discovering his talent for sprinting and getting a chance to join the Defenders.
Is it hard to read?
No, the conversational, direct first-person narration and brisk, linear story make it an accessible read. The emotional material includes Ghost’s fear, anger, and shame over having less money than his teammates.
What difficult subjects does it deal with?
Domestic violence and its aftermath are central: Ghost’s father fired a gun at him and his mother. Violence and abuse are mild in depiction, but Ghost’s fear, school fights, and embarrassment about poverty remain important to the story.
Is it all about racing?
No, training and friendships matter alongside the races. Ghost’s place on the Defenders depends on staying out of fights at school, connecting his new talent with his struggles over anger and belonging.
Does it feel heavy or lighthearted?
Funny first-person narration gives the story a lively feel without softening Ghost’s fear or shame. The tone is warm and hopeful while dealing plainly with poverty and the aftermath of domestic violence.
How long is it?
About 208 pages in the Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books 2017 edition. The brisk pace and conversational narration keep the story moving at that length.
Which edition is shown here?
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books · 2017 · trade paperback. ISBN 9781481450164.
How long does it take to read Ghost?
About 4 hours 15 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 208-page Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds writes novels and poetry for young adult and middle grade readers, with particular attention to the voices of young people navigating pressure, grief, violence, and questions of belonging. He begins with character rather than a fixed age category, allowing the voice to determine the audience. That method gives his work its direct, conversational quality, while his background in poetry supports more compressed and lyrical forms. Long Way Down, a verse novel structured around a brief elevator ride, shows his ability to use formal constraint to examine inherited rules and cycles of violence. Elsewhere, Ghost places questions of discipline and self-command within a middle-school track story, while All American Boys uses alternating viewpoints to confront racism and police brutality. His range also includes Stamped, an adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s history of racist and antiracist ideas, and a Miles Morales novel for Marvel. Across genres, Reynolds centers minority characters as part of the contemporary world they inhabit, pairing social questions with close attention to individual speech, relationships, and choice.
