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A review by saidtheraina
Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri
5.0
I took WAY too long to read this. Almost actually too long.
I got it originally at a library conference in 2012 (signed by the author, no less), and because I had a copy with no due date, didn't read it until summer 2016. I liked it even more than I expected to, and ended up booktalking it to my local middle schools in January 2017.
We meet Cole in the midst of a traumatic event in his life, and watch him encounter the nature of animals in an unnatural habitat. The story eventually gets to NIMBY issues, gentrification, the inner city, ownership, legality vs. morality, and a lot of other stuff which hit home for me.
Cole's voice is very strong (the first sentence: "We drivin' into the sunset, the car burning up from the heat.") with a recognizable cadence. Some might find his unfamiliarity with horse things hard to believe, but I found it insightful and illuminating. I'm sure those kids exist. I also side-eyed the illustrations at first glance, but after seeing them in context, they make sense to me. I spent a semester in north philly in college, making the story particularly vivid. I want to have hope for these characters (both horse and human). They came to life for me.
Unfortunately, copies of this book have become hard to find in my library system in the four years since it came out. Fortunately, there are other writers writing about similar themes (see [b: Riding Chance|29241310|Riding Chance|Christine Kendall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458953880l/29241310._SY75_.jpg|49484602]).
Extra star for the underexposed topic.
I got it originally at a library conference in 2012 (signed by the author, no less), and because I had a copy with no due date, didn't read it until summer 2016. I liked it even more than I expected to, and ended up booktalking it to my local middle schools in January 2017.
We meet Cole in the midst of a traumatic event in his life, and watch him encounter the nature of animals in an unnatural habitat. The story eventually gets to NIMBY issues, gentrification, the inner city, ownership, legality vs. morality, and a lot of other stuff which hit home for me.
Cole's voice is very strong (the first sentence: "We drivin' into the sunset, the car burning up from the heat.") with a recognizable cadence. Some might find his unfamiliarity with horse things hard to believe, but I found it insightful and illuminating. I'm sure those kids exist. I also side-eyed the illustrations at first glance, but after seeing them in context, they make sense to me. I spent a semester in north philly in college, making the story particularly vivid. I want to have hope for these characters (both horse and human). They came to life for me.
Unfortunately, copies of this book have become hard to find in my library system in the four years since it came out. Fortunately, there are other writers writing about similar themes (see [b: Riding Chance|29241310|Riding Chance|Christine Kendall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458953880l/29241310._SY75_.jpg|49484602]).
Extra star for the underexposed topic.