Ghetto Cowboy

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri

When I first saw this title on the Caudill Nominee List, I couldn’t help but chuckle. The title is made up of two seemingly disjointed words. “Ghetto” makes me think of the inner city and concrete and tall chain link fences. “Cowboy” makes me think of wide open spaces, traveling and horses. I couldn’t imagine any two things less alike. And the people who are cowboys would hardly wish to be in the city and vice versa. Fish out of water. But I recognized the author’s name, G. Neri, unforgettable. He wrote Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty and won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor. I started to look forward to it.

At 218 pages; with many, full-spread, eye-catching, black and white illustrations; and short chapters that dig right into the action and move forward lightning fast; this book is aimed directly at the African-American reluctant reader – specifically boys. The conflict begins page one and the reader is hooked. I raced through the first three chapters until I was halted with my first jarring image.

The novel starts with Cole and his mother in their car traveling from Detroit, Michigan to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother has just found out that Cole has missed the last four weeks of school. Not only has he been lying about it, but he has been destroying all evidence that the school has been attempting to make contact with her. He tells her that he hasn’t been doing anything wrong, however he hasn’t been doing anything right either. And Cole’s mother is at her wit’s end. She is driving Cole to stay with a father he has never met, much less even known about.

Is he ever in for a surprise! Cole’s father is a cowboy in inner city Philly. In fact, Cole’s mother left him because he loved his horses and his work with horses more than he loved his wife and newborn son. His father, Harp, saves up his money to purchase horses that are retired from racing. He rescues them from being made into dog food. He stables the horses in a part of the city that has been run down and left abandoned. He encourages inner city kids to learn how to care for and ride the horses to keep them off of the street corner and out of no good. Despite a lack of funding or support from the city, the program is successful, but now the city is looking for a way to shut Harp down and reclaim the land to make money.

Cole doesn’t want to stay with a stranger. Cole wants a second chance at home. But he makes an uneasy friendship with a new horse and in no time, his heart is invested in the animal. When Animal Control removes the horses stating that they are malnourished and ill-treated, Cole is spurred into action. He learns to live the Cowboy Way, “no matter what, never ever give up fighting when the chips are down. Real cowboys never give up.” And he spurs the old-timers, including his father, into action.

I really hope this book’s cover catches some eyes. I truly enjoyed it. Makes me wish we had some horses downtown to take care of and ride – especially for the kids. My only complaints were as follows. I wish it were longer. I wish it hadn’t moved so fast. As an adult, I had a hard time believing everything happened so quickly. (Cole went from being afraid of the horses and wanting nothing to do with them to falling in love with one overnight.) But the book wasn’t written for me. And the kids it is meant for will appreciate getting to the meat quickly without a lot of fanfare.

(This book was an exceptional treat that I didn’t anticipate. Even the quality of the paper of the novel was luxurious. Pick one up. This is the way books are supposed to feel!)