Matt has just returned to his Brooklyn high school after some time off following his mother's death. His classmates don't know what to say to him so they basically avoid him, his father has started drinking, and Matt learns that the job he had lined up with the school work-program has just fallen through. When his elderly neighbor, Mr. Ray, offers hims a job at the funeral home, Matt cautiously accepts.
Matt begins wearing his black suit to school everyday, risking further alienation from his classmates, since he leaves early for his job at the funeral home. He finds that attending funerals helps him process his grief. Matt develops an unexpected friendship with the older Mr. Ray, and realizes that in his rough neighborhood his recent loss means he has more in common with the people around him than he would have thought.
Jason Reynolds has written a great story that reads smoothly, confronts grief, and exposes readers to urban life. This addition to my middle school collection will be of most interest to my readers 8th Grade and up.
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