A review by mmattmiller
Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri

5.0

This book was PERFECT for one of my reluctant readers! This student has a hard time picking a book to read, and an even harder time finishing any book he starts. He chose this one to read in our one on one reading time together, but I soon found I was constantly playing catch up because he insisted on taking it home and he would get ahead of me. This book lends itself to predicting, cause/effect questions, making inferences, and really caring about the world/community around you. My student had no interest in horses before, and has never ridden a horse, so it was amazing to see him relating to another boy who had no such experiences but was starting to experience them. He had questions and related to what he would do if he were in the same situation. My student stopped and thought about what if he did just one more thing that put his mom over the edge, and what if he had to go live with his dad without being able to see his mom anymore. He wondered what he would do so far out of his comfort zone. Again, my student LOVED this book, and it was perfect for many different kinds of discussions (Affordable housing or programming good for the community? What if the local government takes away something you're passionate about? What if you deeply hurt those closest to you? etc.) I HIGHLY recommend this book, and others by G. Neri. GREAT author!