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When Mona is killed and Jazzy is injured in a tragic accident with a semi-truck, Jazzy becomes very withdrawn.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?
Amazon
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.
Website
Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today bestselling author of sweet romantic fiction for Tule Publishing. Her day job is working as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. However, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten and is still writing, but now from the viewpoint of a wiser, slightly rumpled woman in her prime. Nan lives in the Midwest with her husband of 49 years, where they split their time between a house in the city and a cottage on a lake.
Rosemary and Larry Mild coauthored the Dan & Rivka Sherman Mysteries; the Paco and the Molly Mysteries; Hawaii adventure/thrillers Cry Ohana and Honolulu Heat; and four volumes of short stories, including their new one, Charlie and the Magic Jug and Other Stories. Many of their stories appear in anthologies. The Milds, a happy husband-and-wife team, make their home in Honolulu, where they cherish time with their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.
Kathryn Silver-Hajo is a Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and Best American Food Writing nominee whose flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry has been widely published and included in a number of anthologies. Her novel Roots of the Banyan Tree is forthcoming from Juventud Press (fall 2023). Kathryn reads for Fractured Lit. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
Jackie Layton is the author of cozy mysteries with Spunky Southern Sleuths. Her stories are set in Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina. She lives on the coast of South Carolina, where she enjoys walks on the beach and golf cart rides around the marsh. Reading, gardening, and traveling are some of her favorite hobbies. She always keeps a notebook handy to write down ideas for future stories. Be careful what you say around her because it might end up in a book.
John R. York has been writing and publishing his stories since 2016, but he’s always been a storyteller, even as a kid in Central Ohio where he grew up. His life experiences provided him with a wealth of tales to share with others and resulted in his debut work, Wolf’s Tale. He has since published five more novels, including the award-winning Journey to Eden. A retired high-tech executive, he currently lives with his wife, Paula, in New Port Richey, Florida.
