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Reaps
Reaps is a collection of ghost and supernatural tales... though several don’t need ghosts to be scary. Most feature a rarity in the genre of young-adult books... young black male protagonists resourceful, brave and intelligent, and many in settings other than the inner-city.
In “Little Coyote,” for example, 13-year-old Mike Carver finds himself uprooted from his suburban home in Thousand Oaks, California to an old mine shack in the Arizona desert when his father, a struggling author of ghost stories, is financially haunted by Mike’s divorced mother. Mike, a budding body-builder, and possibly a potential health-nut, is dismayed to find that he seems to be stuck in a “dusty desert suckhole” where the only two boys within fifty miles are a smart-ass 12-year-old named Scooter whose life seems composed of video games, 200 channels of satellite TV, and non-parentally supervised access to the Web. Even worse from Mike’s point of view, Scooter smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, and seems to eat nothing but junk-food. Mike’s alternate choice of companions doesn’t seem healthy either; an enormously fat Apache boy who cruises the desert in a gigantic mine truck, builds model ships in a place with no water, and howls with coyotes at night. The desert itself seems unhealthy to Mike, with a frightening abundance of rattlesnakes, “jumping cactus” with six-inch spines, and vultures waiting for him to die. If that wasn’t scary enough, the old mine shack appears to be haunted!
Examples of other settings where young black males encounter ghosts, deal with hauntings -- benign or malignant -- vanquish demons, and Satan Himself, are “Goat Boy” somewhere in America’s heartland, “Children Of Death” and “Esu’s Island,” both of which take place in Haiti, “The Train To Lost Lake,” in a forest in Maine, and “The Picture” set in a “nice little town.”
Stories which may or may not feature ghosts but are haunting nevertheless, include “Spontaneous Combustion,” a gothic-themed reminder that hate still haunts this world, as well as the “The Execution” which is hauntingly surreal. Homelessness can also be scary, especially to an 8-year-old-boy who may be dying of pneumonia in an abandoned funeral parlor: “The Resurrection.”
Jess Mowry does not take the safe route, whether walking through a graveyard at night or an inner-city alley; and neither are his characters the safe and stereotypical heroes who look the parts and play the roles allowed by the mainstream guardians of what young people “should” read. Some boys are fat, others vulgar, and a few are both... as well as adolescently randy. Most are on the verge of manhood and without guides, either spiritual or real, who find they must become their own heroes, and seek their own light in a dark scary world.
In “Little Coyote,” for example, 13-year-old Mike Carver finds himself uprooted from his suburban home in Thousand Oaks, California to an old mine shack in the Arizona desert when his father, a struggling author of ghost stories, is financially haunted by Mike’s divorced mother. Mike, a budding body-builder, and possibly a potential health-nut, is dismayed to find that he seems to be stuck in a “dusty desert suckhole” where the only two boys within fifty miles are a smart-ass 12-year-old named Scooter whose life seems composed of video games, 200 channels of satellite TV, and non-parentally supervised access to the Web. Even worse from Mike’s point of view, Scooter smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, and seems to eat nothing but junk-food. Mike’s alternate choice of companions doesn’t seem healthy either; an enormously fat Apache boy who cruises the desert in a gigantic mine truck, builds model ships in a place with no water, and howls with coyotes at night. The desert itself seems unhealthy to Mike, with a frightening abundance of rattlesnakes, “jumping cactus” with six-inch spines, and vultures waiting for him to die. If that wasn’t scary enough, the old mine shack appears to be haunted!
Examples of other settings where young black males encounter ghosts, deal with hauntings -- benign or malignant -- vanquish demons, and Satan Himself, are “Goat Boy” somewhere in America’s heartland, “Children Of Death” and “Esu’s Island,” both of which take place in Haiti, “The Train To Lost Lake,” in a forest in Maine, and “The Picture” set in a “nice little town.”
Stories which may or may not feature ghosts but are haunting nevertheless, include “Spontaneous Combustion,” a gothic-themed reminder that hate still haunts this world, as well as the “The Execution” which is hauntingly surreal. Homelessness can also be scary, especially to an 8-year-old-boy who may be dying of pneumonia in an abandoned funeral parlor: “The Resurrection.”
Jess Mowry does not take the safe route, whether walking through a graveyard at night or an inner-city alley; and neither are his characters the safe and stereotypical heroes who look the parts and play the roles allowed by the mainstream guardians of what young people “should” read. Some boys are fat, others vulgar, and a few are both... as well as adolescently randy. Most are on the verge of manhood and without guides, either spiritual or real, who find they must become their own heroes, and seek their own light in a dark scary world.
189 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2011
1 person want to read
About the author
Jess Mowry
32 books21 followersWhy do I write?
"After almost forty years of working with kids and raising four of my own, along with a few strays -- none of whom are in prison or collecting Welfare -- not to mention over twenty years of writing books and stories for and about kids, I've found that it's a lot easier for people to be "pro-child" about some kids than it is for them to care about and champion "other" kids. Perhaps, like the animals in George Orwell's Animal Farm, some kids are more equal than others?
"Almost all my stories and books are for and about black kids, who are not always cute and cuddly. My characters often spit, sweat and swear, as well as occasionally smoke or drink. Just like their real-world counterparts, some are "overweight," may look "too black," or are otherwise unacceptable by superficial American values. Like on the real kids, they often live in dirty and violent environments, and are forced into sometimes unpleasant lifestyles.
"And virtually no one writes books or stories about them -- at least seldom in ways that don't exploit them, and/or don't glorify gangs, guns, drugs and violence. I've learned from experience that few publishers, including black ones, will publish positive books about these kids... books that don't portray them in stereotypical roles, and thus only reinforce the negative aspects of their lives.
"The result is that there very few positive books about these kids. This leaves them with no role models except stereotypes of gangsters, rappers or sports figures. Worse, virtually the only books that "white" (or more fortunate) children have to read about most black kids are also filled with these negative stereotypes. About the only exception are books in which black kids play a supporting role to a white hero.
"I have devoted my career, such as it is, to writing positive but realistic books and stories, not only for and about black kids, but also for "white" kids so they will understand that the negative stereotypes aren't true... that most black kids have other interests besides guns, gangs, drugs, violence, becoming rap stars, or playing basketball.
"When I first began writing I wanted to write many different kinds of books; adventure novels, magic, ghost stories. These were the kinds of books I grew up reading, though I often wondered why there were no black heroes, such as ship captains or airplane pilots... no black Indiana Joneses, Hardy Boys or Hobbits. But mainstream publishers only want the stereotypes: if not blatantly negative stereotypes, then only stereotypical positive images. Only what "good black kids" are "supposed" to do. What the mainstream white world expects them to dream about and aspire to be.
"I often write about violence because the U.S.A. is a violent country in a violent world and pretending it isn't doesn't help anyone. Most of my kids aren't angels, but they are being as good as they can be... which is a lot better than most people seem to think they are.
"To me, being pro-child includes all children, even kids whom it may be hard to like... especially kids who are hard to like."
"After almost forty years of working with kids and raising four of my own, along with a few strays -- none of whom are in prison or collecting Welfare -- not to mention over twenty years of writing books and stories for and about kids, I've found that it's a lot easier for people to be "pro-child" about some kids than it is for them to care about and champion "other" kids. Perhaps, like the animals in George Orwell's Animal Farm, some kids are more equal than others?
"Almost all my stories and books are for and about black kids, who are not always cute and cuddly. My characters often spit, sweat and swear, as well as occasionally smoke or drink. Just like their real-world counterparts, some are "overweight," may look "too black," or are otherwise unacceptable by superficial American values. Like on the real kids, they often live in dirty and violent environments, and are forced into sometimes unpleasant lifestyles.
"And virtually no one writes books or stories about them -- at least seldom in ways that don't exploit them, and/or don't glorify gangs, guns, drugs and violence. I've learned from experience that few publishers, including black ones, will publish positive books about these kids... books that don't portray them in stereotypical roles, and thus only reinforce the negative aspects of their lives.
"The result is that there very few positive books about these kids. This leaves them with no role models except stereotypes of gangsters, rappers or sports figures. Worse, virtually the only books that "white" (or more fortunate) children have to read about most black kids are also filled with these negative stereotypes. About the only exception are books in which black kids play a supporting role to a white hero.
"I have devoted my career, such as it is, to writing positive but realistic books and stories, not only for and about black kids, but also for "white" kids so they will understand that the negative stereotypes aren't true... that most black kids have other interests besides guns, gangs, drugs, violence, becoming rap stars, or playing basketball.
"When I first began writing I wanted to write many different kinds of books; adventure novels, magic, ghost stories. These were the kinds of books I grew up reading, though I often wondered why there were no black heroes, such as ship captains or airplane pilots... no black Indiana Joneses, Hardy Boys or Hobbits. But mainstream publishers only want the stereotypes: if not blatantly negative stereotypes, then only stereotypical positive images. Only what "good black kids" are "supposed" to do. What the mainstream white world expects them to dream about and aspire to be.
"I often write about violence because the U.S.A. is a violent country in a violent world and pretending it isn't doesn't help anyone. Most of my kids aren't angels, but they are being as good as they can be... which is a lot better than most people seem to think they are.
"To me, being pro-child includes all children, even kids whom it may be hard to like... especially kids who are hard to like."
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