The Boy in the Black Suit in Mock Printz 2026

Aug 20, 2015 Richie Partington rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

Richie’s Picks: 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 t ...more

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Feb 08, 2016 Samantha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: african-american, grief, new-york, teen, love-story, funerals, funeral-services

Matt is struggling to deal with the recent loss of his mother to breast cancer. His father isn't doing much better and begins drinking excessively which lands him in the hospital. While his father is recuperating, his neighbor Mr. Ray, a funeral director, keeps an eye on him and offers him a job. To Matt's surprise, he finds that his job offers him a certain sort of comfort in that he regularly encounters other people who are grieving.

When a funeral causes him to cross paths with a girl he's bee ...more

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May 29, 2015 Justin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, fiction

Jason Reynolds is so good at teen boy characters, and seems to consistently turn simple, quiet stories into something more meaningful. This book stays with a simple premise: Matthew loses his mother and watches his father fall apart, and finds solace in crashing funerals until he meets a girl who apparently has the strength he can't find. There is no hyperbole or action in this story, and the twist at the end serves to get readers thinking rather than turning pages. I should have rated this four ...more

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