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Greg Neri. Now there’s a guy with range. If he isn’t writing a picture book bio of Johnny Cash he’s doing a middle grade novel on inner city cowboys or a graphic novel on Chicago’s South Side. Some authors fall into predictable patterns. Not Greg. I honestly never know what the man’s going to come up with next. So when I heard that his next novel was a middle grade about the real-life friendship between Truman Capote and Harper Lee, it just kinda made crazy sense.
Greg actually visited me here in Evanston a couple months ago with a small group of fellow authors. Not long after, he touched base and told me that he’d gotten an invitation to speak at the Monroeville courthouse from To Kill a Mockingbird. When that happened, his friend and filmmaker e.E Charlton-Trujillo (who wrote the amazing Prizefighter En Mi Casa) said the two of them should make a little documentary about his journey there in search of the real places and people behind the book.
Now the video is done and it’s a lot of fun to watch. And just because you guys are so handsome and clever, I’ll let you have TWO mini-docs for the price of one. Video #1 is the long version (9.5 minutes). Video #2 is shorter (5 minutes).
Enjoy!
Interested in chatting with Greg about his books? Well, if you’re headed to Orlando this week for the Annual Library Conference, he’ll be signing at the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt booth this Saturday at 10am.
Fun Fact: Parents these days speak in code. As a New York children’s librarian I had to learn this the hard way. Let’s say they want a folktale about a girl outwitting a witch. I pull out something like McKissack’s Precious and the Boo Hag and proudly hand it to them. When I do, the parent scrunches up their nose and I think to myself, “Uh-oh.” Then they say it. “Yeah, um . . . we were looking for something a little less . . . urban.” Never mind that the book takes places in the country. In this day and age “urban” means “black” so any time a parents wants to steer a child clear of a book they justify it with the U word, as if it’s the baleful city life they wish to avoid (this in the heart of Manhattan, I will point out). Any black author or illustrator for children that you meet will probably have stories similar to this. Maybe part of the reason I like Greg Neri so much is that he’s not afraid to be as “urban” as “urban” can be. He does all the stuff these parents cower from. He writes in dialect, sets his stories in cities, talk about gangs and other contemporary issues, and produces stories that no one else is telling. That no one else is even attempting to tell. Street chess? Try Chess Rumble. Graphic novels discussing how the media portrays black youth? Yummy. And how about black cowboys living in big cities like Philadelphia or Brooklyn? For that you’d have to find Ghetto Cowboy (not “Urban Cowboy”) and read it in full. Because if there’s one thing Neri does well it’s tell a tale that needs to be told.
Cole’s been in trouble plenty of times before, but this is different. This is worse. After getting caught after skipping school for large swaths of time, Cole’s mother has had all that she can take. Next thing he knows they’re barreling out of Detroit, the only home he’s ever had, straight for Philadelphia. There, Cole’s father, a guy he’s never met before a day of his life, lives a peculiar life. Cole’s heard of cowboys, sure, but whoever heard of cowboys in Philly? Turns out that his dad helps run an urban stable where he works to get neighborhood kids interested in helping care for and ride the local horse population. But with a city intent on carting the horses away, it’s going to take more than good intentions to keep these modern day cowboys up and running. It’s going to take Cole’s help.
Betsy –
Thank you so much for writing about this book – I just sent it along to the rest of the children’s literature team at MSU. In addition to your notes about the story, I really appreciate two specific points: the way that parents talk in code about what they want – particularly the use of the word urban. I have heard similar language from pre-service and practicing teachers and it is a topic that we discuss in our children’s literature courses.
I also love that your observation that when vernacular is used in adult books it is artistic but that everyone freaks out about it in children’s books. I definitely want to get my hands on this book, particularly because you note that the vernacular supports the theme & character. We offer a multicultural children’s literature course where we specifically have conversations about the use of cultural vernacular and what it means for us as readers when we are not from this culture. It is awkward to talk about at first – particularly for those of us who are white – but the more we discuss why we may feel that language is either dumbed down (or too complicated) the more we reveal about ourselves and our own language preferences.
(I’m also excited to have a new horse book to pass along to my daughter that doesn’t have glitter or tiaras involved.)
- Kristin
jan godown annino said, on 10/3/2011 7:44:00 PM
G. Neri’s novel sounds important for the readers it targets but important for us all.
Once again, many thanks Fuse #8
It’s hard to have a favorite part of the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet to look forward to, but definitely up there is the red carpet interview portion. Each year Jim Averbeck whips out the camera and questions and has the luminaries of the field give their thoughts and opinions on a variety of schtoofs. 2011 was no different and he was joined in his efforts this year by fellow co-hosts Kristin Venuti and our own Katie Davis. Here is one of the many videos Jim has placed on the marvelous Kidlit On the Red Carpet blog. Extra points for interviewing bloggers like Liz of Tea Cozy and Sondra Eklund of Sonderbooks in addition to authors and illustrators like David Diaz, Yuyi Morales, Ellen Hopkins, Jenny Han, John Rocco, Katherine Paterson, Clare Vanderpool, Margi Preus, Alan Katz, Javaka Steptoe, Kirby Larson, Lin Oliver, Duncan Tonatiuh, Kimberly Marcus, Jeanette Larson, and Adrienne Yorinks. Check out the Facebook page if you’ve half a mind to do so.
Now let us begin today’s trailerfest with a remembrance of notable librarians past. The great children’s librarian Anne Carroll Moore had no tolerance for children’s books that she considered gimmicky. Pat the Bunny, for example, was hardly up her alley. So one wonders what she would make of this children’s book coming out this November from McSweeney’s McMullens. It’s called Keep Our Secrets by Jordan Crane and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a book for kids do this before . . .
Apparently the ink never fades and works like this every time. They say that, but when I was a kid we had hypercolor shirts. So I’ve been burned before, McSweeney’s. That pain of seeing what happened to my shirt when it went through the wash never really went away. Oh, the humanity.
Let’s do a more traditional picture book trailer now. Thought: Can you can something “traditional” if the medium itself has only been in existence a couple of years? In any case, I rather liked this trailer for David Mackintosh’s Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School.
Thanks to Pamela Paul for the link.
Of course it’s an extra special treat when a trailer includes the author and even gives some background on the creation of the book itself. And look! Behold the remarkable Jarrett Krosoczka and his first new picture book in years!
your neighborhood librarian said, on 7/31/2011 5:02:00 AM
Mmm, that Jordan Crane book just became my new favorite gift for a second or third birthday! But it’s going to be a bit short-lived in the library, I think they’re going to try to scratch off the black ink.
Elizabeth Bird said, on 7/31/2011 6:11:00 AM
That’s what I’m wondering too. I mean, how easy would it be to scratch? That might be a fun blog post right there. Hand the book to five-year-olds and then record the damage they do. Little fingers are marvelous at destruction.
Julie said, on 7/31/2011 7:58:00 AM
Wonder what the policy is for cleaning books like Keep Our Secrets? Would it be cleaned? Is it along the lines of a board book (which has a tendency to be chewed, licked, pawed, etc.)? Because personally I would have been the kid who’d lick the book, just to see if that’d work. It’s shocking I’m still alive today.
I like the idea of a Consumer’s Digest blog post. I too wonder if the ink would wear away.
Miranda said, on 7/31/2011 8:56:00 AM
I know that recently we have explored more interactive features of books online; however, “Keep Our Secrets” is more interactive physically. I wonder if there will be more books of this kind?
Elizabeth Bird said, on 7/31/2011 9:53:00 AM
Now there’s a blog post! Physically interactive books. This, Press Here, tactile books as whole, books that break down the fourth wall, etc.
I don't know if you guys saw Live Journals's very own gneri, or Greg Neri, spotlighted in School Library Journal. But as an author, it would be a dream come true to read an article that began, "My favorite book of the year? Hands down, it's the graphic novel Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by Greg Neri, illustrated by Randy Burke."
Greg Neri. Now there’s a guy with range. If he isn’t writing a picture book bio of Johnny Cash he’s doing a middle grade novel on inner city cowboys or a graphic novel on Chicago’s South Side. Some authors fall into predictable patterns. Not Greg. I honestly never know what the man’s going to come up with next. So when I heard that his next novel was a middle grade about the real-life friendship between Truman Capote and Harper Lee, it just kinda made crazy sense.
2 Comments on Review of the Day: Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri, last added: 10/3/2011
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The videos are fantastic intros or follow-ups to the book. Greg Neri is great in front of the camera. What an inspired idea!
This is WONDERFUL. Great from a literary and historical perspective. Thanks for sharing.