G. Neri Visit

85 chairs squeezed in and ready to go--no small feat in our library space

Greg Neri visited Maple Street last week and it was fantastic. Last spring, I was contacted by our public library and asked if we would like to have an author visit. My answer was definitely a yes, but I wanted this visit to be different. I have always partnered with English Language Arts teachers or let students self-select into a book clue when we have had author visits in the past. This time, I discussed the visit with a colleague in Library Services before making any decisions. I wanted to have kids who might not otherwise meet an author get the chance to read one of Neri's books and connect with his story. Fortunately, my colleague gave me some great ideas and I ultimately chose to have five of our READ 180 classes read Ghetto Cowboy in preparation for the visit.

Yummy, the subject of one of Neri's books, was based on a real boy

Neri's stories come from life and headlines

Greg is a fantastic speaker who connected with the students well. He showed a video about urban cowboys, spoke about how he came to write his stories, and shared a bit about several of his published books and future books. He also answered dozens of questions from the eager students. After the visit, two statements resonated with me. First, he said he likes to, "Give a voice to the stories that aren't being told." I like the idea that a book might teach me about something I had never dreamed about. I read Ghetto Cowboy on a plane from Chicago to Seattle and I joked afterwards that I was a good thing I didn't have any Wi-Fi because I would have ended up doing a bunch of research on urban cowboys instead of becoming immersed in the story. This was definitely a story that had not been told in a book for teens and I'm glad my students got to experience it.

Mr. Neri interacting with our students

The second idea that has stuck with me is the statement, "Can a book save a person's life?" I had not done much research on Neri prior to his visit. However, I did read one article about Neri connecting with a struggling student and his librarian that I shared with the teacher who had prepped the kids for the visit. I always hope that our students will connect with that one book which will be a springboard to a love of reading and literature. What if a book could truly save a person's life? We can only imagine.


I highly recommend an author visit featuring Greg Neri. If you have an opportunity to see him speak, you will not be disappointed.

The students were captivated

  A sequel to Ghetto Cowboy may be in the works--imagine a polo team set in Philly