Greg Neri

Greg Neri (pen name G. Neri) is an American author and is known for his work in young adult fiction. He has written books in free verse and novelistic prose, as well as graphic novels. Neri has received multiple awards from the American Library Association and the International Reading Association.

Personal life and education

Greg Neri was raised in Los Angeles. He moved to Santa Cruz, California, to attend the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 2001, he illustrated his first book for Scholastic, but turned to writing in 2005. He currently resides in Tampa, Florida. In 2017, he went to Antarctica on a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Books

Chess Rumble

Neri's 2007 debut novella, Chess Rumble, is about an 11-year-old inner city teen named Marcus who fights back against his bully, but is challenged by a grandmaster to fight his battles on the chess board instead.

Chess Rumble received praise from critics and bloggers. School Library Journal said "This book will become a standby pick for reluctant readers." The book was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English. In 2010, Neri received the Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award from the International Reading Association for his free-verse on Chess Rumble.

Surf Mules

Neri's first novel, Surf Mules, revolves around two California surfers who find themselves embroiled in a world of disorganized crime.

Booklist said that Surf Mules is "Harrowing... Neri delivers a powerful story that doesn't flinch... Sometimes brutal, but always realistic, this will find an audience among teens looking for gritty contemporary fiction."

Yummy

Neri's graphic novel Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty is about Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, who was eleven years old in 1994 when he became a fugitive from justice after accidentally killing a neighbor girl. Neri creates a fictional narrator who watches what happens to Yummy when he seeks help from the gang he is trying to impress. Instead, they turn on him when he becomes too much of a liability to them.

The book won a 2011 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award and was named one of the Best Books of 2010 by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews.

Ghetto Cowboy

His novel Ghetto Cowboy is inspired by the real life black urban cowboys in Philadelphia. The story is about an 11-year-old named Cole who is abandoned on the doorstep of the father he's never met, but befriends a horse and eventually becomes a cowboy. Neri has said he was inspired by an article in Life magazine.

The Christian Science Monitor called it "A heartwarming story about inner-city kids who bond with a band of forgotten race horses. Jesse Joshua Watson's realistic pencil and graphite wash illustrations combine with Neri's gritty street language to make a powerful story. The rhythm of the writing, the smells and sounds of the neighborhood, the developing relationship between a boy and his estranged father add up to an appealing novel, especially for an under-written-for segment of young male readers."

Knockout Games

Knockout Games is based on the real-life origins of the infamous knockout games in St. Louis of recent years. The story concerns a white girl who falls in with a group of middle graders and high schoolers who play the dreaded game. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, saying: "The results are thrilling... the author's meaty ideas and exciting action sequences blend together perfectly. Neri's main concern is the "post-racial" urban landscape, raising many talking points while letting readers come to their own conclusions. Harsh and relentless, a tough but worthy read."

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash

Neri's first picture book and biography charted the rags to riches rise of Johnny Cash.

Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, saying: "This illustrated biography of the "Man in Black" uses poetry to chronicle pivotal moments in his life, from boyhood to stardom. Each poem borrows its title from one of Cash's songs. The narrative is well-researched, age-appropriate and beautifully expressive. The exquisite oil illustrations capture the setting and the emotion of each poem, allowing readers to feel as if they are there with J.R. as he works the harsh Arkansas fields or in the audience as Johnny whips the crowd into a frenzy plucking out his tunes on the guitar. An exceptional portrait of one of the most recognizable musicians of all time."

Tru & Nelle

The New York Times reported that Neri's middle grade novel is a detective story starring Harper Lee and Truman Capote as children growing up in the Deep South during the Depression. Gary D. Schmidt, the Newbery Honor author of Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and The Wednesday Wars said, "Tru & Nelle is a wonderfully imaginative re-creation of the childhoods of two great American writers, but even more, it is a novel that affirms the mysterious and glorious ways that friendship reaches across boundaries of all sorts to claim unexpected kinship." Charles J. Shields, the author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee said, "If you've ever wanted to run through the backyards of dusty old Maycomb, Alabama in search of high adventure and mystery, just like Scout, Dill, and Jem, then this is your chance. Greg Neri has recreated the childhoods of Harper Lee, Truman Capote, and Jennings Carter— the real-life models for the kids in To Kill a Mockingbird— and spun new adventures for them."

Grand Theft Horse

Main article: Grand Theft Horse

In 2018 Neri wrote Grand Theft Horse, a biography of horse trainer Gail Ruffu.

Writing approach

Neri has been asked about what themes he writes about and for whom. He has said that "I'm trying to re-think the notion of what a book means to urban teens. Many teens can make it through high school without ever having read a book of fiction. But that's because to them, books are big, full of words, and told in a voice that is alien to them. Most of these kids are now born into a more visual society, so I think playing with graphic novels and illustrations and using voices and characters that you don't see often in literature is a big plus for reluctant readers in the city. I see my books as gateway books to Jane Austen."

Awards

Neri has received multiple awards from the American Library Association (2011 Coretta Scott King Honor Award, 2012 Odyssey Award Honor, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014 ALA Notable Books) and the International Reading Association (2010 Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014 Notable Books) among other honors (2010 Cybil Award, 2011 Once Upon a World Award from Simon Wiesenthal Center, 2012 Horace Mann Upstanders Children's Book Award, 2014 Florida Book Awards, 2014 VLA Jefferson Cup).

Bibliography

Novels

• Surf Mules (Carolrhoda Lab, 2009) ISBN 0-399-25086-7)
• Ghetto Cowboy (Candlewick, 2011) ISBN 978-0-7636-4922-7)
• Knockout Games (Carolrhoda Lab, 2014) ISBN 978-1467732697)

Graphic novels

• Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty (Lee and Low, 2010) ISBN 978-1-58430-267-4)
• Grand Theft Horse (Tu, 2018) ISBN 978-1-62014-855-6

Free-verse novellas

• Chess Rumble (Lee and Low, 2007) ISBN 978-1-58430-279-7)
• Hello, I'm Johnny Cash (Candlewick, 2014) ISBN 978-0763662455)

Easy Readers (as illustrator)

• Hooray for Teeth by Gina Shaw (Scholastic, 2001) ISBN 978-0-439-20642-6)

External links

• Official website
• Greg Neri at Library of Congress, with 7 library catalog records