20 August 2015 THE BOY IN THE BLACK SUIT by Jason Reynolds, Atheneum, January 2015, 272p., ISBN: 978-1-4424-5950-2

“I don’t need no money, fortune, or fame

I’ve got all the riches baby one man can claim”

Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, “My Girl” (1964)

“We started up the block, our cement world of trash cans blown into the street, stray cats begging, stoop sitters dressed in fresh sneakers smoking blunts in broad daylight, old ladies sweeping the sidewalk, tired nine-to-fivers walking slowly on the final stretch before home. The buses, and cabs, and bicycles, and skateboards. The shop owners hollering out their two-for-one deals. The little girls singing, the older boys laughing, the babies crying, and the two of us moving through it all.”

Matthew Miller’s mother has died, and his father has quickly become a basket case. After 20 years of sobriety thanks to Matt’s mom, his father’s drinking again. Seventeen-year-old Matt needs to find part-time work after school to help pay the bills. He’s very much on his own.

Matt narrowly avoids a grimy job at the Cluck Bucket fast food place. Fortunately, he bumps into Mr. Ray, the funeral home owner he met at his mother’s service. Mr. Ray offers him an after-school job. (No, he won’t have to touch dead bodies.)

Trying to heal from his loss and loneliness, Matt begins paying attention to the funerals at work. He watches other bereaved people deal with their pain and tries to understand how he might get past his own.

Matt wears his work clothes--his black suit--to school, which is why the book is called THE BOY IN THE BLACK SUIT.

Meanwhile, Love is a young woman whom Matt’s seen working at Cluck Bucket. They have their first real meeting at Matt’s workplace, crossing paths at Love’s grandmother’s funeral. Love, an orphan, has been living with her grandmother. Now she, too, is very much on her own.

I’ve read many contemporary young adult novels that feature an exceptionally quirky teen character finding someone to hang with, or two exceptionally quirky teen characters finding one other. In contrast, Matt and Love are both young everyday people, decent teens stuck in tough positions in a tough neighborhood. Finding one another is a salvation.

There is authenticity to these characters, the Bedford-Stuyvesant setting, and the tragedies in their lives and their neighborhood. It’s easy to connect with Matt and Love.

Mr. Ray, the funeral home owner, is a complex adult character. He’d once been a promising athlete, but his career ended before it started because of a terrible injury. He becomes a friend and positive father figure to Matt while also working out his own issues.

Well-crafted and thoughtful, THE BOY IN THE BLACK SUIT shows how a pair of young people can come to care about and help each other in a rough and often unforgiving world.

Richie Partington, MLIS

Richie's Pickshttp://richiespicks.pbworks.com

BudNotBuddy@aol.com

https://www.facebook.com/richie.partington

Moderatorhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/