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70th out of 136 books
—
546 voters
Ghetto Cowboy
by
G. Neri (Goodreads Author),
Jesse Joshua Watson
A street-smart tale about a displaced teen who learns to defend what's right-the Cowboy Way.
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
August 9th 2011
by Candlewick Press
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But here, Esteemed Reader, is G. Neri and his new classic, Ghetto Cowboy. It's a gripping read for readers of any age, and if you're a writer working on your voice, Ghetto Cowboy is a book you definitely want to read as G. Neri is all about nailing the voice of his protagonist Witness how he writes Cole (short for Coltrane, naturally) as a genuine character who says the things Cole would say the way he would say them (but without all the swearing I imagine he might include if this were YA instea...more
Appeal Characteristics: urban cowboys, father-son relationship, black male relationships, urban life, gangs, truancy, mother-son relationship, coming of age story
This book reminded me sorta of an urbanized Hoot. It is actually based on a real place that specifically caters to urban males to help them put down a gun and pick up a horse. Neri places a special note about how he found the article and where you can find more information on the actual place. This book has definitely piqued my intere...more
This book reminded me sorta of an urbanized Hoot. It is actually based on a real place that specifically caters to urban males to help them put down a gun and pick up a horse. Neri places a special note about how he found the article and where you can find more information on the actual place. This book has definitely piqued my intere...more
I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed this one since I am not a huge fan of Westerns. Neri has created a tale that takes the challenges of inner-city living with a Western theme, and it creates a very hopeful tale.
Cole and his mother have not been getting along for some time. Most of it is due to the fact that Cole has a habit of getting in trouble a lot. Nothing too serious, but just enough that she needs a break from it all. As a result, she is driving him down to Philadelphia to live...more
Cole and his mother have not been getting along for some time. Most of it is due to the fact that Cole has a habit of getting in trouble a lot. Nothing too serious, but just enough that she needs a break from it all. As a result, she is driving him down to Philadelphia to live...more
gr5-8
This is the third book of Neri's I've read recently. All of them are in different genres. He talks about how the story he is trying to tell informs the format he uses. With his graphic novel Yummy, he first tried to make it into a film, because that was what he was doing at the time. But many years later, realized that a graphic novel would tell the story the best. Ghetto Cowboy is a true novel-length, different from Chess Rumble, which was free verse poetry. Ghetto Cowboy is written in the...more
This is the third book of Neri's I've read recently. All of them are in different genres. He talks about how the story he is trying to tell informs the format he uses. With his graphic novel Yummy, he first tried to make it into a film, because that was what he was doing at the time. But many years later, realized that a graphic novel would tell the story the best. Ghetto Cowboy is a true novel-length, different from Chess Rumble, which was free verse poetry. Ghetto Cowboy is written in the...more
You know you want to read a book with this title: Ghetto Cowboy. I mean, c'mon--doesn't that pique your interest just a teeny tiny bit??
This was a very cool book on a number of levels. First, I had no idea that there WERE such things as ghetto cowboys (and, yes, there are!). Cool.
Second, the single-parent-drops-kid-off-with-long-lost-other-parent plot line has gotten old. Until now. Somehow, the setting of an urban stable with ghetto cowboys makes it cool. Really.
Third, the parents are better pa...more
This was a very cool book on a number of levels. First, I had no idea that there WERE such things as ghetto cowboys (and, yes, there are!). Cool.
Second, the single-parent-drops-kid-off-with-long-lost-other-parent plot line has gotten old. Until now. Somehow, the setting of an urban stable with ghetto cowboys makes it cool. Really.
Third, the parents are better pa...more
3 likes · like · see review
Cole is constantly in trouble, so his mother takes him to live with the father he's never mer in Philadelphia. While leaving, his mother runs into a horse that comes out of nowhere, and has to be shot by Cole's father. It turns out that his father is involved with a group that purchases old racehorses and is raising them in an inner city neighborhood so that kids can ride them and have an activity that is safe from gang involvement. Cole is mad and wants to go home, but starts to enjoy the horse...more
Although Cole has been in trouble before, this time it's the last straw for his mother who drives from Detroit to Philadelphia to leave him with the father of whom he has no memory. Harper quickly sets Cole straight and puts him to work in the horse stables on which he devotes his time, money, and emotion. Scared of him at first, Cole bonds with a horse he names Boo, and realizes that his father is a hero to many of the men and boys in the neighborhood who connect with the philosophy behind the...more
30 July 2011 GHETTO COWBOY by G. Neri, Candlewick, August 2011, 218p., ISBN: 978-0-7636-4922-7
"The stables is nothing more than a few garages and some vacant lots with old buildings that look like they made outta scrap. I peek inside one. It's dark and smells all dank like horse. There's banged-up plywood and hay on the floor, and the ceiling is covered in cobwebs so thick, it looks like nobody ever cleaned up there before. The stalls is small, with no windows, and the wood is old and warped, li...more
"The stables is nothing more than a few garages and some vacant lots with old buildings that look like they made outta scrap. I peek inside one. It's dark and smells all dank like horse. There's banged-up plywood and hay on the floor, and the ceiling is covered in cobwebs so thick, it looks like nobody ever cleaned up there before. The stalls is small, with no windows, and the wood is old and warped, li...more
This is a middle grade book, but it is so good! And yes, that was me you heard cheering and crying at the end. If you are looking for an inspirational book for young readers (and yourselves!) you can add this book to your list.
Twelve-year-old Coltrane, named for the jazz artist, is being raised by his mother in Detroit. But as the book begins, Cole has gotten in trouble yet again at school, and his mother feels like she can’t take any more; she is driving him to Philadelphia to the house of the...more
Twelve-year-old Coltrane, named for the jazz artist, is being raised by his mother in Detroit. But as the book begins, Cole has gotten in trouble yet again at school, and his mother feels like she can’t take any more; she is driving him to Philadelphia to the house of the...more
Feb 02, 2013
Sally Kruger
added it
As they drive out of Detroit, Cole knows his mother is fed up with his delinquent behavior, but he doesn't realize how upset she is until they arrive in Philadelphia and she stops the car in front of a rundown building. Cole's mother announces she is leaving him with his father. Cole is sure she is kidding until his stuff is unloaded and she is gone.
Cole hasn't seen his father in years. Now he is face to face with a guy dressed like a cowboy, and when he follows the man inside, he is shocked to...more
Cole hasn't seen his father in years. Now he is face to face with a guy dressed like a cowboy, and when he follows the man inside, he is shocked to...more
Summary: Twelve-year-old Cole never thought his trouble-making and skipping school would result in his mother taking him from Detroit to Philadelphia to live with the dad he has never met.
Worse still is Cole’s new home is in a true gangster’s paradise in the ‘hood: old row houses, abandoned overgrown lots and trouble waiting on each corner. Yet Cole’s in for a bigger surprise when he learns that his dad Harper is one of the last remaining black cowboys. Harper helps run the Chester Avenue sta...more
Worse still is Cole’s new home is in a true gangster’s paradise in the ‘hood: old row houses, abandoned overgrown lots and trouble waiting on each corner. Yet Cole’s in for a bigger surprise when he learns that his dad Harper is one of the last remaining black cowboys. Harper helps run the Chester Avenue sta...more
Cole has pushed his mom to her limits so she decides to take him to his father in Philadelphia. A father who he has never met. When she drops him off she accidentally runs into a horse that is running wild in the streets and Cole's father has to put the horse down. Cole learns that the horse is part of the neighborhood stables that Cole's father takes care of. Stables that the city wants to shut down. At first Cole is resistant to his father and the horses, but he forms a bond with a horse calle...more
Ghetto Cowboy is G. Neri's most recent take at delving into a news story and pulling out an incredibly compelling (and hilarious) story from it.
The book starts out with Cole's mother finding out that he's been cutting school for a month and driving him from Detroit to Philly to leave him on his father's doorstep--a man who Cole has never met. Within his first five minutes in Philly his mother runs into a horse with her car, and he sees his father, who greets him with a scowl wearing a cowboy hat...more
The book starts out with Cole's mother finding out that he's been cutting school for a month and driving him from Detroit to Philly to leave him on his father's doorstep--a man who Cole has never met. Within his first five minutes in Philly his mother runs into a horse with her car, and he sees his father, who greets him with a scowl wearing a cowboy hat...more
12 year-old Cole is living with him mother in Detroit. Momma is fed up with Cole skipping school, running around with the wrong crowd and not making the right choices. She is at wits end with him so she needs to make a change. She throws his clothes in trash bags and drives him non-stop to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia (where I grew up). Cole's father, whom he has never met or really talked to, is now taking care of Cole. Cole's father, Harper, doesn't think this will work out too wel...more
When Cole’s mother finds out he has missed four weeks of school and will have to attend summer school to avoid failing, she takes extreme action. She drives Cole from his home in Detroit to an inner city neighborhood in Philadelphia, leaving him with a father he never knew. Cole’s first encounter with his father is watching him shoot an injured and dying horse, right in the middle of the Philly street. Horses in Philly? As Cole’s anger and confusion beings to clear, he learns about his father an...more
Apr 22, 2012
Amy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
yalsa-best-of-the-best,
audio-books
This was a wonderful book from beginning to end. Of course, I'm always a sucker for a book set in Philly. And when you offer me a slice of Philly that I have completely missed, even better. (And throw in a little line of, "Philly girls is hot!" and you've got me completely!)
Cole's voice was so well written. I will admit to being so much of a grammar geek that I often have trouble reading books that are written in any kind of local voice. This is where JD Jackson's narration hits his first home r...more
Cole's voice was so well written. I will admit to being so much of a grammar geek that I often have trouble reading books that are written in any kind of local voice. This is where JD Jackson's narration hits his first home r...more
I'm working my way through the 2012 Odyssey Awards, and this title won an honor. I understand why! The narrator's voice is deep, expressive, and somehow sounds just like a 12-year-old boy.
Cole's mom has had enough of him--he's skipping school and getting in trouble with the police. So she drives him from Detroit to Philadelphia and drops him off at his dad's. Cole has never seen his dad, and he isn't thrilled to be at his deadbeat dad's doorstep. And he doesn't know what to think about the HORSE...more
Cole's mom has had enough of him--he's skipping school and getting in trouble with the police. So she drives him from Detroit to Philadelphia and drops him off at his dad's. Cole has never seen his dad, and he isn't thrilled to be at his deadbeat dad's doorstep. And he doesn't know what to think about the HORSE...more
I listened to the audio version of the book.
I generally like audio versions when place and accent are featured in a book. Neri wrote the book in dialect, so listening to the accent added to the experience.
Cole is twelve and a handful. He lives in Detroit with his very hard-working mother but has been acting out. When she finds out he just skipped the last month of school, she flips out and drives him to Philadelphia to live with his father, a man he has never met before. It turns out that his fa...more
I generally like audio versions when place and accent are featured in a book. Neri wrote the book in dialect, so listening to the accent added to the experience.
Cole is twelve and a handful. He lives in Detroit with his very hard-working mother but has been acting out. When she finds out he just skipped the last month of school, she flips out and drives him to Philadelphia to live with his father, a man he has never met before. It turns out that his fa...more
This book was an excellent read. It is based on real black urban riders. It is the story of family, friends and values. In part it is about sticking up for what you believe in, and it is a coming of age story. Cole, our protagonist, is a troubled young man. His mother does not know how to handle or help him any more so she takes him to Philadelphia and drops him off with his father whom he has never met.
The story is extremely well written, with strong characters, and the plot has a great pace. T...more
The story is extremely well written, with strong characters, and the plot has a great pace. T...more
Are you looking for something exciting to read? If you are you just came to the right place. This book is called Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri, illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson. This book is about a boy named Cole, and he lives with his mother in the city because their dad had left them. Then suddenly, one day his mom starts driving him to a place where there are cowboys, horses, and barns. That's when he meets his dad again. After his mom leaves him in this unknown place will he be able to live he...more
Gotta say I was completely clueless about the tradition of black urban cowboys. I knew about black cowboys but not about their existence in NYC and Philadelphia. This book is an accessible read with pictures that are quite wonderful. I plan to book talk it as soon as we return from spring break.
The story follows Cole as he's being dropped off by his mother. She's at her wit's end in dealing with his behaviors and decides that maybe his father will have more luck in getting through to him. Cole...more
The story follows Cole as he's being dropped off by his mother. She's at her wit's end in dealing with his behaviors and decides that maybe his father will have more luck in getting through to him. Cole...more
I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book from the author via Goodreads' First Reads. The concept of Ghetto Cowboy alone is enough to make it interesting, set as it is among a group of black inner-city horsemen in Philadelphia. What makes the book a poignant and satisfying read, though, is the voice of Cole, the main character, as he struggles with being dumped on his father's doorstep -- a man he never knew -- by a mother who's apparently given up on him. Cole makes enough mistakes to be be...more
I love horses, but as a general rule I hate horse books. They're usually ridiculously cheesy, implausible, or depressing and often involve snotty girls whom I want to punch. Ghetto Cowboy was a different sort of horse book, about a different sort of horsemen, in a good way. It didn't make me want to send the editor a list of fact corrections and it didn't make cry, but it did make me want to take Cole riding with me. It's a good book about good people, trying their best in a world that doesn't a...more
Why I picked it up: It’s cowboys and horses in the middle of contemporary Philadelphia! And while the book is fiction, that actually exists!
Twelve-year-old Cole has been skipping school and lying to his mother. When is called in by the principal, she does not know what to do with Cole and drives him from their home in Detroit to the father he’s never met in Philadelphia. When he gets to Philadelphia, Cole is shocked to see that his father lives at a stable with horses—in the middle of the city!...more
Twelve-year-old Cole has been skipping school and lying to his mother. When is called in by the principal, she does not know what to do with Cole and drives him from their home in Detroit to the father he’s never met in Philadelphia. When he gets to Philadelphia, Cole is shocked to see that his father lives at a stable with horses—in the middle of the city!...more
Sep 07, 2011
Karen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
2011,
animal,
boy-books,
coming-of-age,
family-struggle,
feel-good,
overcoming-diversity,
teen
Dropped off by his Mom to live with his Dad in a totally different city, Cole feels abandoned and rejected. Not only does he have to adjust to living with his dad, but he also has to adjust to living with horses in the middle of Philadelphia.
These urban stables are having a tough time surviving, but they do the best they can to provide good homes for unwanted horses and alternatives to gang life for the local teens.
Cole adjusted a little too quickly to this new life for my taste. One day he wa...more
These urban stables are having a tough time surviving, but they do the best they can to provide good homes for unwanted horses and alternatives to gang life for the local teens.
Cole adjusted a little too quickly to this new life for my taste. One day he wa...more
Cole, a Detroit teen who gets into trouble and skips school, drives his single mother to the edge, so she drives Cole to Philadelphia and drops him off at his father. A man he’s never know. His father saves old race horses from being turned into dog food and uses the horses to keep inner city kids from joining into gang activity. The topic, setting, and main character is what attracts middle school teens – cowboys in the inner city with a cocky teen and realistic black dialogue. I like the stron...more
Feb 25, 2013
Warnie B.
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Warnie B. by:
Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee 2013
Man, I reeeally enjoyed this one a lot--Cole, the main character, has a great voice and it's such an interesting subject; I'm definitely planning to read up more about the cowboys in Philadelphia and Brooklyn. Also, horses! I was never one of those girls obsessed with horses as a kid (wait--do unicorns count?), but I find myself kind of into them as an adult (as evidenced by my love of the sadly canceled TV show Wildfire). Anyway, the topic really intrigued me, and I felt like Cole's attitude ab...more
Do horses make you think of rolling hills and sprawling countryside estates? Do they bring to mind cattle herds and the endless sky? Do you hear the pounding of hooves from a spot in a hat-bedecked audience? When you think of ghettos, do you picture a stables there?
Cole definitely didn't picture a stables when his mother suddenly drives him to Philadelphia from Detroit. Unable to cope longer with the Cole's troubles, his mother brings him to the father he thinks he's never known. Within minutes,...more
Cole definitely didn't picture a stables when his mother suddenly drives him to Philadelphia from Detroit. Unable to cope longer with the Cole's troubles, his mother brings him to the father he thinks he's never known. Within minutes,...more
Fun Fact: Parents these days speak in code. As a New York children’s librarian I had to learn this the hard way. Let’s say they want a folktale about a girl outwitting a witch. I pull out something like McKissack's Precious and the Boo Hag and proudly hand it to them. When I do, the parent scrunches up their nose and I think to myself, “Uh-oh.” Then they say it. “Yeah, um . . . we were looking for something a little less . . . urban.” Never mind that the book takes places in the country. In this...more
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G. NERI is the Coretta Scott King honor winning author of YUMMY: THE LAST DAYS OF A SOUTHSIDE SHORTY. He is also the recipient of the International Reading Association's Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award for his debut book CHESS RUMBLE. His latest novel GHETTO COWBOY won an ALA Odyssey Honor and the Horace Mann Upstanders Award. His work has been honored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and t...more
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“When gangs took over the [abandoned public land in Philadelphia] and the neighborhood took a turn for the worse, horses became a way of saving lives. By getting boys interested in raising a horse rather than killing another human being, these cowboys gave the youth something positive: father figures, focus, and the ability to stand tall.”
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Sep 25, 2012 06:29pm