Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

APA Bibliography: Neri, G., & DuBurke, R. (2010). Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty. New York, NY: Lee and Low Books.

Readability Lexile: GN510L

Book Information: https://www.leeandlow.com/books/yummy

Genre: Graphic Novel, Criminal Justice, Teen Years

Author Information: https://www.gregneri.com/aboutme/

Illustrator Information: http://www.randyduburke.com

Summary: Yummy is story based on a true story about a kid who grew up in Chicago and became involved with gangs. Yummy was a nickname for Robert Sandifers, who was 11 years old. He would eat lots of sweets, which is how he ended up with the nickname. He lived with his grandmother, but he though his real family was the gang in the streets. He would do whatever they told him. One day one of the gang members gave Yummy a gun. He accidentally shot an innocent 14 year old girl. The police investigated the shooting of the girl, and ended up finding Yummy shot dead under a bridge.

Target Audience: The target audience for this book is children in grades 4-5. I would not recommend this book for anyone younger because of the gang scenery and violence.

Evaluation: I though this book was really interesting. I like that it was based on a true story. The author did lots of research before writing this book, including going to Chicago to the same neighborhoods. The story in the book is something that happens a lot in Chicago, but it is never talked about. Using this book in a classroom, or just reading it for fun provides lots of insight as to why living in Chicago is like.

Reader Response Activity: An activity that you can do is to show documentaries about what it is like to be living in the south side of Chicago. This will show the children how it was like for Yummy.