The Upstanders Award Goes to Ghetto Cowboy!

This past weekend, the Fifth Annual Horace Mann Upstanders Book Award was given to G. (Greg) Neri for his middle grade novel Ghetto Cowboy. The ceremony took place at the Wildwood Elementary School in Los Angeles, and along with Neri two other people were honored. Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries and author of Tattoos on My Heart, received the Community Upstander Award. Sam Swope, author of The Araboolies of Liberty Street and other titles for young people, received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The main event, however, was the annual Book Award, which honors the outstanding children’s book (picture book or middle grade) published in the previous year “that best exemplifies the ideals of social action and in turn encourages young readers to become agents of change themselves.” The award was established in 2008 by J. Cynthia McDermott, the chair of the Education Department at Antioch University Los Angeles to honor “upstander” characters in fiction who can serve as role models for readers.

Published in 2011 by Candlewick, Ghetto Cowboy tells the story of 12-year-old Coltrane, known as Cole, whose mother sends him from Michigan to live with the father he barely knows in Philadelphia. His exile is the result of cutting too many classes at school in order to hang out with his friends. Cole’s father takes care of horses stabled in an abandoned inner-city neighborhood, and he quickly puts Cole to work. After attempting to run away, Cole becomes attached to one of the horses and along with his father and his father’s “ghetto cowboy” friends, they stand up to city officials and developers who are trying to get rid of the horses and bulldoze the neighborhood.

With charming illustrations by Jesse Joshua Watson, Ghetto Cowboy sets the reader in a real place—there are, in fact, stables on Philadelphia’s North Side and African-American cowboys who take care of the horses—and portrays the bond between people and animals. The main character will appeal to boys who are reluctant readers; although Cole’s not a good student, he’s a good kid who wants to help and finds his talent with the help of his father and his father’s eccentric neighbors. The illustrations reinforce key scenes in the story and make this book an excellent choice for middle school age boys who may not be the best students but who have dreams and the energy to change the world.