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Aug 04, 2011

Alison rated it:

The cheapest rents that I had in Philly were in some really gang-infested neighborhoods. It's hard to explain this to people in a place like Columbus...that in Philly, if you're freshly out of college and you work in nonprofit, education, or the arts, you probably live in a poor neighborhood of Latinos, blacks, Vietnamese, or Cambodians (or choose another ethnic ghetto). Though the gangs don't bother you (usually...some people get mugged, or have houses or cars burglarized) their violence is omn More...

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Feb 06, 2012

L12_Marie Schiller rated it:

How sad is the world? And how sad that I live in Chicago and didn't even know the true pain that many families have to endure. This is a story that needed to be told. I am not a big fan of graphic novels but I feel it was done well and would lend itself to numerous discussions for teens and adults about "Yummy". Perhaps, a discussion about where we went wrong as a society and what we can do to help in the future.

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Jan 28, 2012

L12_sarah rated it:

In 1994, young Chicago gangbanger Robert "Yummy" Sandifer made national news when a stray bullet from his gun shot and killed Shavon Dean, a 14 year old girl, during a gang related skirmish. On the run from the police, Yummy was eventually picked up by two of his fellow Black Disciples, driven to a remote location and executed for being a liability. He was 11 years old.

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty tells Yummy's story from the beginning: his terrible childhoo More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 09, 2011

Brittany rated it:

basically what happened in this story is yummy was beat by his mom most of his childhood and then his mom was a drug attick so she went to rehab.yummy had to go live with his grandma where he snuck out every night becuase he didnt want to be there.one night he went out and joined the black disciples who sent him to do all of their dirty missions because if yummy got into big trouble he would only go to jail till he was 21, but one day yummy saw his rivals playing football and this young girl nae More...

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Nov 04, 2011

Jeannie rated it:

Citation: Yummy: Last Days of a Southside Shorty, G. Neri, Randy DuBurke (illustrator), 94p. Junior Books / Graphic Novel

Genre: Graphic Novel – Biography

Summary: This is an account of the last days/events in the brief life of Robert Sandifer, best known as Yummy. The author attempts to answer the question why concerning the life of this eleven year old ruffian.

Critique: a. the author’s choice of the graphic novel to deliver the final events of the life of More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Henry rated it:

Yummy
Young killer or victim?
What would motivate you to kill someone? Well, Robert “Yummy” Sandifer will do it just for respect. But there’s something else - he is only 11 years old. In the graphic novel Yummy by G. Neri, you see how he does it. Yummy has been breaking the law ever since he could walk shoplifting and burning cars. In the past year and half, he has had 23 arrests. Everyone in his grade fears him, and ever More...

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Sep 29, 2011

Beaverton City Library Teens rated it:

In 1994, Chicago gangbanger Robert "Yummy" Sandifer (nicknamed for his love of sweets) was gunning for a rival gang member in an effort to prove himself in his Southside neighborhood. Instead, he accidentally shot and murdered Shavon Dean. He was 11. She was 14. Within a few days, Yummy would also be dead - shot through the head under an aqueduct by two members of his gang who were unhappy with the heat his crime was bringing to them. Yummy's story became national news for a time, maki More...

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Sep 21, 2011

Crista rated it:

Wow, what an amazing book. The story is so powerful and moving that you almost forget that you are reading this in graphic novel format. The black and white images are imperative to the story by not only adding to the supreme existence of the featured gang, the Black Disciples, but also to tame the violence and bloodshed. I had no prior knowledge of this story prior to picking the book up at the library. After reading just the introductory paragraph, I was motivated to go online and research More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Britt rated it:

This is the story of an 11 year old child who kills and is killed. It is based on the true story of gang violence in Southside Chicago in 1994 and is narrated by Roger, a classmate of Robert “Yummy” Sandifer, as he tries to make sense of what happened. Yummy was part of the Black Disciples, and while trying to impress his fellow gang members he accidentally kills a 14 year old girl.

The narration is more of an unemotional news report than an 11 year old trying to understand a tragedy. More...

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Jul 25, 2011

Daniela rated it:

Summary:
In this non-fiction graphic novel, author G. Neri takes an honest look at what happened to 11-year-old Robert Sandifer, known on the streets as Yummy. Raised in a broken family and in and out of social assistance housing, Yummy learns fast that it’s everyone for himself in his gritty Chicago neighbourhood.

Soon enough he’s dabbling in illegal acts like stealing cars and armed burglary. When he’s taken in by the gang group the Black Disciples, Yummy feels that he finally More...

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Mar 23, 2011

Jono rated it:

It is 1994 and a gang-related murder in Southside Chicago’s Roseland district is the talk of the nation. 11-year-old Robert “Yummy” Sandifer is hiding from police and his own gang, the Black Disciples Nation, after accidentally murdering a 14-year-old neighbor, Shavon Dean, while hunting down a rival gang member to satisfy a gang initiation rite. Robert, a fictional classmate, recalls and contrasts Yummy’s toughness with his childlike nature (teddy bear, taste for sweets), composing a biographic More...

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Feb 20, 2011

Nicola rated it:

Reason for Reading: This was a Cybils '10 nominee and required reading for me as a Cybils graphic novels panelist. However, all the panelists received a copy from the publisher except me. I guess it got lost in the mail or, maybe it was a Canada thing. Anyway I was unable to find a copy before our shortlists were due but this book was unanimously voted by the others as the first book chosen to go on the shortlist, I happily deferred to their wisdom. A copy just recently came into my local librar More...

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Feb 13, 2011

Karen rated it:

If a kid goes down, there's another one waiting in line.
You make it past 19 these days, you a senior citizen around here.
Based on real events, this is a fictionalized version of the life of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, who made national headlines and the cover of Time magazine in 1994, when he was executed by his own Southside Chicago gang members to prevent him from snitching to the police about their illegal activities. Neri tells the story from the point of view of Roger More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 01, 2011

Charles rated it:

This powerful, tragic graphic novel uses a fictional narrator, Robert, to tell the true story of an eleven-year-old gang banger, Robert "Yummy" Sandifer. Called Yummy because of his affinity for sweets, he accidentally kills a teenage girl during a gang turf war. After becoming a media sensation while on the run in 1994 (even a cover of "Time"), the very same "family" he was trying to impress, the Black Disciples, executed Yummy in a dark tunnel. The book chronicles More...

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Feb 01, 2011

Q_Ayana rated it:

In the summer 1994, news of a Southside Chicago homicide of a young girl spread throughout the country. There was a manhunt, or “boyhunt,” for the killer, 11-year old Robert “Yummy” Sandifer. Nicknamed Yummy for his love of sweets, this young boy was trapped inside the life of a broken home, the streets, and gangs, common in the Roseland community of Chicago. In G. Neri’s graphic novel, he shares the story of Yummy, through the eyes of Robert (the narrator), friends, enemies, family, neighbors, More...

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Jan 29, 2011

Liz rated it:

Roger, an eleven-year-old living in a rough neighborhood in Chicago, narrates this fictionalized examination of real-life murderer and murder victim Robert “Yummy” Sandifer. Yummy is being raised by his grandmother who watches many of her grandchildren and doesn’t have time to give him enough attention. Yummy often skips school to rob convenience stores and commit other petty crimes; as he grows older these crimes escalate into burglary and auto theft. When he’s eleven he seeks out the attentio More...

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Jan 24, 2011

Katie rated it:

I was a little wary of this book at first, being about what it's about, and wasn't entirely sure it belonged in my children's department, even though Yummy is only 11 years old when this book takes place. So, I read it during lunch, and I approve! Off to the new books shelf it goes as soon as I'm done writing this.

The story is told through the point of view of a fictional character, another boy in Yummy's neighborhood. This, I thought, did two good things for this book. First, it ke More...

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Jan 19, 2011

Jan rated it:

This graphic novel is based on the heartbreaking true story of lives wasted in Southside Chicago during a gang-related slaying in 1994. Robert "Yummy" Sandifer is just eleven when he shoots and kills an innocent bystander during a territorial gang dispute. His story is told by a fictional classmate, Roger, who is trying to make sense of what happened. Yummy's childhood is an all-too-common story of parental neglect and abuse. The only family he knows is his gang, The Black Disciples, a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2011

Aaron rated it:

This graphic novel presents the real-life story of a young man who was caught up in the gangs of Chicago's South Side. The events took place in the Roseland neighborhood of the Windy City in 1994. Eleven-year-old Robert Sandifer, or Yummy to his friends, was doing everything he could to make his name in the Black Disciples Nation. The included shoplifting, stealing cars, and trying to master the use of a gun. The struggles with that final skill is what would lead to his biggest problem.

In the More...

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Jan 11, 2011

Terri rated it:

"Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty" is a 2011 Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor Book.
This graphic novel is based on the true story of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer. Yummy was the son of a father who was in prison for drugs, and a mother who was involved in prostitution and drugs. He had scars that were evidence of years of abuse. As the story begins, it is 1994 in Chicago and Yummy lives, along with several other children, with his grandmother. He is a member of t More...

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Dec 08, 2010

Reader rated it:

Yummy is just 11 when he accidentally kills a neighbor girl and then is found dead himself 3 days later. Based on the true story of a gang shooting in the summer of 1994 in Chicago, this book is a quick read, and also a powerful one that will stay with readers for a long time. The story is told from the point of view of Robert, one of Yummy's classmates who is struggling along with the rest of his neighborhood to understand how his classmate who is a the same time a "shorty" in the More...

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Dec 01, 2010

Tony rated it:

I was in my early 20s when the murder by an 11-year-old that is the basis for this powerful graphic novel took place, but I have no memory of it -- and I'm not whether that speaks more ill of me or of our country. Although the events depicted took place more than 15 years ago, this retelling and reimagining of them has the potential to be a powerful tool in getting kids to discuss violence in their communities. The book is short enough to hold even the most reluctant reader's attention, and the More...

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Sep 29, 2010

Jesse rated it:

Powerfully drawing you deep into the emotional turmoil of the events surrounding the real life story of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, G. Neri is a master of HOOK and SUBSTANCE. To simply call this book a cautionary tale would be criminal. This book is like the streets. There is no master key to check your answers against. Like the streets, you draw your own conclusions. And, like the streets, the cautions are painted on the walls right in front of you.

Neri is less an author and More...

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Sep 15, 2010

Augusta added it

When I was sent G. Neri's new graphic novel YUMMY: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by the publicist, I was conflicted. I don't like to review books without understanding them completely. All I could think was how can I ever find anything to say about this book? What do I know about graphic novels? The last time I picked up a comic book was when I was 12...I don't understand the whole form.

Then I opened Yummy. Wow.

First of all, there's the story. It really will b More...

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Sep 11, 2010

Lars rated it:

Initially worth your attention because you won't read anything else that comes close. A comic book for fifth graders up based on the true story of an 11-year-old murderer in Chicago during the sweltering summer of 1994. As Elizabeth Bird (a New York librarian and Goodreads author whose reviews are an essential resource for learning about children's books) put it, "Believe me, you’ve nothing like this in your collection."

But novelty isn't the only factor that makes 'Yummy' More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 18, 2011

Caris rated it:

I never had any idea who Robert Sandifer was, but, it occurs to me now, that he probably had some kind of impact on my life. I don’t know shit about you, but when I was in sixth grade, I participated in the D.A.R.E. program at school. One thing I never really understood was why so much of the D.A.R.E. curriculum focused on street gangs.

We were taught how bad they were, that they hurt and killed kids. There were the Bloods and the Crips. They wore saggy pants with handkerchiefs hanging More...

9 comments like (10 people liked it)

Apr 19, 2011

Eileen rated it:

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty is a graphic novel that tells the true story of an 11 year old gang member. Robert "Yummy" Sandifer grew up on the streets in Chicago. Like many young boys in his neighborhood, Yummy did not have a father figure in his life, and he longed to belong to a family. He joined the Black Disciples gang and quickly became involved in serious crimes. The gang members routinely found minors to commit crimes because the penalties were not as severe fo More...

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Sep 12, 2011

Erin rated it:

The story is pretty great, highlighting some very real problems for some very real people and taking a stance that questions- perfect for the teen audience it was intended for. While it portrays violence, the illustrations aren't especially graphic, focusing on the people rather than the gore. In general, the book is character centric and the plot may feel a little unsatisfying with the lack of a solid conclusion. The art style is pretty detailed, allowing each character individuality and the More...

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Apr 17, 2011

bjneary rated it:

G. Neri's graphic novel is a winner. She takes the true story of 11 year old Robert "Yummy" Sandifer's shooting of an innocent 14 year old girl, Shavon Dean, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and crafts a gripping tale from the point of view of a boy, Roger, who knew both kids, lived in the same neighborhood, and had a brother in the same gang as Yummy. Roger is an onlooker, part of a close knit family (yet his brother is in the Black Disciple gang too)who went to school wi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2011

Barbara rated it:

This is my first foray into both reading a graphic novel and reviewing one. Although I grew up in Chicago and spent part of my childhood in Roseland, the neighborhood where this story occurred, seeing the title struck no bells at first. But the cover did what all good book covers should and made me look. Once inside the pages I found myself remembering the Chicago of 1994 and the neighborhood I both loved and was eager to escape. A picture really can speak a thousan words, and the powerful illus More...

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