Orion Children’s to publish Ghost Boys

American author Jewell Parker Rhodes has signed her first UK publishing deal with Orion Children’s Books, part of the Hachette Children’s Group (HCG).

Ghost Boys is about a black boy who is killed by a white police officer. After his death, Jerome comes back to his neighbourhood as a ghost, where he starts to notice all the other ghost boys.

Orion editor Lena McCauley acquired the English language rights for the UK and Commonwealth regions from Hachette US and will publish in April.

“With this story, Jewell provides a prompt for children and teens to discuss the very real issue of racism, while simultaneously offering hope for how we can be a better society,” said McCauley. “In today’s world, such stories are invaluable and we have a responsibility to ensure they reach younger readers. We’re extremely proud to be publishing this.”

Parker Rhodes lives in California and is a professor of creative writing at Arizona State University.