Ghetto Cowboy

By: G. Neri / Narrated By: JD Jackson

Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins

EVERYthing you could ever hope for in a book for Teens!

I’m a little confused by the reviews for Ghetto Cowboy that have been left on Audible. They make it sound like it’s a book for little kids, simple and without much depth. After listening to it, I could only scratch my head and mutter a bewildered: Huh?!?

Cuz it has it all. It starts with twelve-year old Cole being driven all the way from Detroit to Philadelphia in a single stint because he’s messed up, messed up bad, for the very last time. His mother doesn’t know what to do with him, and she thinks that dumping them on the doorstep of the father who abandoned them years ago is the only thing that can turn Cole around. She doesn’t really know for sure; all she knows is that she’s had it.

Cole is deposited into one of the worst areas of Philadelphia, run down homes, vacant lots, gunshots and police choppers cruising through the night skies. But oddly enough, there are horses too. His father runs a stable that gives homes to horses destined for the slaughterhouses, and through caring for them, he gives the area’s youngsters something to care about and to do besides gang-banging and running drugs.

It’s a great story! Cole, who starts off as being a big-mouth kid with attitude, goes on to be the hero for a frightened and mistreated horse he calls Boo. When the City comes to shut the stables down, he makes a promise to Boo: Don’t worry, I won’t let you down. And so begins Cole’s decision to be a person of action, to put the Cowboy Way that he’s grown to love into play.

There are heroes and villains, friendships and rivalries, stand-offs and breakouts. And Cole learns what it is to respect and admire and to be someone worthy of respect.

JD Jackson does a fantastic job with narration. He captures the young punk-iness of the sass-mouthed Cole, the honorableness of Cole’s estranged father, Tex, Smush, a Muslim cowboy, street kids, Cole’s bewildered but loving mother. He does it all and does it well. It’s a slow and smooth ride till we get to the point where Cole is an earnest and courageous young man strong enough to do the right thing and to voice his opinions with quiet conviction. Plus, Jackson really puts a lot of heart and soul into showing the bond that develops between Boo and the boy.

Seriously, I truly enjoyed Ghetto Cowboy. At barely over 4 hours, it’s short and sweet and is a great ride.

Uhm, pun intended?!?