The Boy in the Black Suit
Written by Jason Reynolds
Narrated by Corey Allen
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a UK Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, an Odyssey Award Winner and two-time honoree, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was also the 2020–2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); When I Was the Greatest; The Boy in the Black Suit; Stamped; As Brave as You; For Every One; the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu); Look Both Ways; Stuntboy, in the Meantime; Ain’t Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. His debut picture book, There Was a Party for Langston, won a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.
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Reviews for The Boy in the Black Suit
38 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This novel is by the same author as When I Was the Greatest. Matthew feels that life is backward--everything changed overnight, and he feels now that typical life for a teenager is unimportant. He matures instantly. School holds little interest and takes up very little time in the book. The book isn’t about Matthew and his relationship with his friends and how he tries to fit in after the turn in his life. This novel is about Matthew, about loss, about life, and about taking responsibility for those around you--it’s about maturity.Matthew’s mother died of breast cancer, and now life is empty. His father decides drinking is his best friend, leaving Matt alone. Looking for food, because his father certainly isn’t going to bring any home, Matt goes to Cluck Bucket, his favorite food place. Two important events occur here. He meets up with Mr. Ray, his neighbor, who offers him a job at the funeral home; and, he meets the girl at the counter. Mr. Ray takes Matt under his wing to help him through this difficult time, both as an employer and a friend, for Mr. Ray knows about loss and living. Matt’s best friend, Chris, makes brief appearances as the “best friend” character, but he holds little relevance compared to Mr. Ray. Attending funerals helps Matthew deal with death because he feels a connection with others whose lives have been turned upside down and they are grieving as he is. He needs this connection, so he actually likes his job. Eventually, he meets the girl from Cluck Bucket and is able to take what Mr. Ray has taught and learn from her as well. Her life has required her to grow up quickly as well.A serious novel, The Boy in the Black Suit, takes place in New York, so it would be termed urban lit although it’s much more tame. The author lives in the area about which he writes, so it’s realistic fiction. I liked it. If you liked Crossover, I think you’ll like this as well, although sports play absolutely no role in this novel.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A really fresh voice and great characters! Loved this one!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love all the work that Jason Reynolds is doing. Although I love When I Was the Greatest more than this newer one, this is still a good story. Matt, who has just lost his mom, ends up working at the local funeral home. And there's a girl, of course.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy in the Black Suit is a book with two rather distinct halves. First, we meet the narrator, Matthew Miller. He's a teenage boy in Brooklyn whose mother died a few months before the book begins. His father, who hasn't had a drink in years, is turning back to alcoholism to cope. Matthew gets a part time job working for a funeral home, where he finds a curious comfort in watching other people go through the same loss that he went through. Then his father is hit by a car, and will have to spend weeks in the hospital and rehab before he can come home. So Matthew is all alone in his house, coping with terrible loss. His only real friends, his buddy Chris - best friends since childhood, and his boss, Mr. Ray, who runs the funeral home, and is "looking out" for Matthew while his father is in the hospital.Then, halfway through the book, there is a shift. At one funeral, Matthew meets Love (that's her real name), and he's smitten. The book moves then into his attempts to get over his shyness and ask Love out. Love, it turns out, has her own terrible loss and grief that she is dealing with, and the two find a connection. Love enables Matthew to finally begin to move past the loss of his mother and begin to live again.The first half of the book was better than the second half, but it was still very good.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A poignant, realistic, affecting story with some nice doses of humor.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the story of Matthew and how he came to terms with his mother’s death from breast cancer while still in high school. He found comfort working part-time in the neighborhood funeral home. He also met Love, the girl of his dreams, while dealing with his father’s grief as well. This is an engaging story of Matt coming to terms with death but embracing life at the same time.