A review by jennifermreads
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri

4.0

“Sometimes stories get to you; this one left my stomach in knots. After three days of reporting, I still couldn’t decide which was more appalling: the child’s life or the child’s death.” – Jon D. Hull, Time magazine, September 1994

Is there really anything more to say than what Jon D. Hull did? The brief life that Robert “Yummy” Sandifer led, his father in prison, mother in & out of prison, grandmother stressed & overwhelmed with so many grandchildren to watch, Yummy had all the warning signs that his life would be brief. While he thought he found family in the local gang, Black Disciples Nation, he ended up finding his end: a planned initiation shooting that ended with an innocent bystander, another teen, killed.

I wish these stories would end. The fact that the book is almost 15 years old, and Yummy’s story actually took place nearly 20 years ago, and we still have gang initiations gone wrong, children killing children, poverty and broken families, too many guns. My heart breaks. I feel helpless. I take the small steps I can to make a difference, be the change. But it doesn’t seem to make a difference, does it? Hopefully, my small steps at least make a difference to one life…or two.