Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri

Ghetto Cowboy is a very different book, but also very enjoyable, whether you're a horse lover or just like a good story.
Cole has been getting into trouble for ditching school and is suspended. His mother decides she just can't take it anymore and takes him to live with his dad in Philadelphia, a dad he has never met and knows nothing about. Cole finds a world he is unfamiliar with, a world filled with horses and black cowboys, right in the middle of some of the worst streets in America. He learns that real cowboys weren't exactly as they're portrayed in the movies, real cowboys were mostly black and they had a strict code of honor. Right when Cole begins to understand that code of honor and how important it and his father is to him, he is faced with losing it all. This was a great story, though if you're an animal lover like me be prepared to skip through a page near the beginning dealing with a violent animal death, it was a little too much for me, but the story is very much worth reading after you get through that part. After doing some research I found out that there really are places like these in the inner city, (fletcherstreeturbanridingclub.com ) , places that save retired race horses from slaughter and get kids to choose horses over drugs and gangs. The black cowboy, the horses, and the cowboy code of honor still exists today. Write this title down, it's release date is in early September 2011. it's for ages 10 and up and is something that even adults shouldn't miss out on. I got an advance copy through wonderful, Netgalley.com and Candlewick Press.