Synopsis

Jasmine “Jazzy” Jaspers is a ten-year-old albino who lives with his mother, an obese telephone sex worker. When his mother dies, Jazzy is sent to live with his grandparents on their farm in southwestern Minnesota. At his mother’s funeral, he meets and befriends his first dead person, and it changes his life forever. Together with his new friend from school, Mona, the two of them begin traveling to cemeteries and befriending people who have died, usually under horrific circumstances.

When Mona is killed and Jazzy is injured in a tragic accident with a semi-truck, Jazzy becomes very withdrawn. Only when he is taken in by Carl and his wife Ellen does Jazzy climb out of his depression. His new home is right next to the cemetery where many of his friends are buried, including Mona. Will this be enough to bring happiness to his life?

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Review

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading this book, but I was drawn into Jazzy’s life and his new ability to be able to speak to the dead. Since Jazzy is on the outskirts of his classmates, outside of his new best friend Mona, researching the dead people he feels a connection to at the cemeteries helps him understand the tragedy they underwent in death.

I enjoyed watching these two forge a friendship and research the different people in the cemeteries. I had to laugh that Jazzy didn’t stop to think about getting the names from the tombstones, so they had to do more work trying to figure out who these different people were. He even comments that the research would be easier if he had just stopped and gotten their names. I agree Jazzy.

There are moments of abuse by Jazzy’s grandfather, so if that is a trigger for you, you may want to skip this book or at least skip over those sections. I am not sure what year this book is set, but it isn’t current day. I would say perhaps the 1990s or early 2000s only because of the lack of technology.

This could almost be a middle-grade book because of the age of the characters, but I’d classify it more YA just due to the content.

Overall, I found the book fascinating and enjoyed the journey that Jazzy was on and where he might end up.

We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Jim’s stories and poems have appeared in nearly five hundred online and print publications. His collection of short stories, Resilience, is published by Bridge House Publishing. Short Stuff, a collection of flash fiction and drabbles is published by Chapeltown Books. Periodic Stories, Periodic Stories Volume Two, Periodic Stories Volume Three – A Novel, and Periodic Stories Volume Four are published by Impspired. Dreamers, a collection of short stories, is published by Clarendon House Publishing. Something Better, a dystopian adventure novella, and the novel, The Alien of Orchard Lake, are published by Dark Myth Publications. In the fall of 2022, his collection entitled Holiday Stories was published by Impspired as was his collection of poetry, Haiku Seasons. In February 2023, Periodic Stories Volume IV was published, as was his collection of poems, The Alchemy of Then, both by Impspired. In June 2023, a collection of flash fiction, Dancing With Butterflies, was published by Impspired.In July 2023, his YA novella The Battle of Marvel Wood was published by Impspired. His short story “Aliens” was nominated by The Zodiac Press for the 2020 Pushcart Prize. His story “The Maple Leaf” was voted 2021 Story of the Year for Spillwords. He was voted December 2022 Author of the Month for Spillwords. He also reads his stories for Talking Stories Radio and for Jim’s Storytime on his website. He lives in a small town west of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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