The toy gun first appears in a news story that describes the gun as the reason Officer Moore shot and killed Jerome. In the news story, the gun is a potent symbol for the assumed criminality of Black boys and men. In the news story, there is no mention that the gun is a toy, an omission that shows the power of unconscious bias to transform objects of play into the real thing.

The gun as a toy—one that nevertheless serves as a shield against the everyday violence of school—first enters the narrative on Page 58, when Carlos reveals the truth about what it is to Jerome. The toy is a symbol of both Carlos and Jerome’s efforts to achieve some sense of safety in a world and community where Black children and children of color are unsafe.

The gun is a dangerous toy in such a world, and this point is driven home in the scene near the end of the novel when Parker Rhodes finally reveals the moments of Jerome’s death. Running through Green Acres, Jerome feels a sense of power and affirmation as he imagines himself as a good guy with a gun.