Ghetto Cowboy (Bluebonnets '13-'14 Highlights)

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri; Ill. by Jesse Joshua Watson
Which Readers? Third grade +

This middle grade novel grabbed me from the very beginning. Cole has made bad choice after bad choice, and his mom has had absolutely all she can take. She takes him to the father he has never met in inner city Philly, and he is aghast when she just leaves him there. Cole's relationship with his distant father gets off to a rocky start, and he just wants to get back to his mom. But Cole's dad is part of a group of inner city cowboys, and Cole is soon drawn in by the horses and The Cowboy Way. When their stables are threatened by the city, Cole finds that he must take action.

This novel was inspired by an April 2005 Life magazine called "Street Riders" that profiled actual urban cowboys in Philadelphia and Brooklyn.

Yes, I really thought this was a great middle grade novel. But it has received highest honors at my house from my favorite little patron. My 10 year old son, Leo, picked up this novel, and it is now one of his favorite novels to date. Whenever he finds a book he really likes, he always comes up and down the stairs after bedtime so that he can tell me "here's what's happening now" in his book as he reads before he goes to sleep. This has only happened a few times - the first Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and maybe one more book . He was up and down the stairs at least six times with this book. He had questions about the dialect at first, and that offered a great point for discussion. In the days since he finished the book, he has asked me...."Do you think there will be a sequel?," "Has G. Neri written any other books?," and "Do you think they'll make a movie of Ghetto Cowboy?" THAT is a homerun novel for us.

Here are Leo's thoughts on the book:

i like the setting of the characters and the characteristics of each one. the way Cole acts like he dislikes Harper at first and then learns to like him, and the same thing happens to Harper. the way  the story starts out kind of tragic and then turns into a suspense novel. when i told myself, "are you sure you gonna like this book?", what was i thinking?