50 pages 1 hour read

Jason Reynolds

Lu

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

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Chapters 5-6

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5 Summary: “A New Name for Sprinting: Surviving Stinky Dudes Who Got Nothing Better to Do Than Talk Trash Because They Haters”

The next morning, Lu is still thinking about his father’s past and the responsibility of choosing his sister’s name. Lu creates a list of names for the baby, including “Snowflake” (58). His mother, Christina, asks Lu if he wants to talk about what he has learned about his father and Lu declines. Christina nods and then tells him to get ready so that he can help her with work for her business Picasso of Produce for which she creates and delivers sculptures made of fruit.

Christina looks at her list of deliveries for that day and reads that the first one is for a Mr. Charles Ringwald, from “Terri and Castle” (60). Lu realizes that this is Ghost, whose real name is Castle. Christina and Lu begin constructing a cowboy hat to deliver to Mr. Ringwald. Lu and his mother arrive in front of the delivery address to find a corner store. Christina sends Lu to deliver the sculpture, reminding him to deliver it quickly and professionally. Lu enters the store, ready to deliver the sculpture, but stops when he sees Ghost standing with someone he “wished was a ghost”: Kelvin Jefferson, a bully from school who used to taunt Lu about his albinism (70).