Fiction - Animals, Children - Fiction & Literature, Fiction - People, Places & Cultures
Ghetto Cowboy
G. Neri, Jesse Joshua Watson (Illustrator)
Available on Bookshop
Write a review
Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
A street-smart tale about a displaced teen who learns to defend what's right-the Cowboy Way.
Editorials
From the Publisher
A fascinating glimpse of a culture most readers will not have heard of.—Kirkus Reviews
Neri's story is original in theme and inspirational in tone and content.
—Booklist
School Library Journal
Gr 5–8—Cole has been skipping school so much that he might have to repeat seventh grade. His fed-up mom drives him from Detroit to North Philadelphia to live with the father he's never met. Feeling abandoned, Cole at first struggles to get along with his father. But eventually his dad's vocation as a horse-whispering cowboy—he runs a stable in the inner city, which is a safe haven for local kids—gives them a chance to connect. Cole learns the history of black horsemen and how to live the "Cowboy Way," befriending a horse of his own and joining a fight to save the stable when it's threatened by the city. This well-written book is based on a true story of urban cowboys in Philadelphia and New York. Cole's spot-on emotional insight is conveyed through believable dialogue and the well-paced plot offers information about a little-known aspect of African-American history as well as a portrait of contemporary urban stable life. Watson's illustrations punctuate the intriguing aspects of the story and make the novel more appealing.—Shawna Sherman, Hayward Public Library, CABook Details
Published
August 6, 2013
Publisher
Candlewick Press
Pages
224
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780763664534