I truly enjoyed reading Yummy by Greg Neri, so creating a read/listen/view alike list for it was a great adventure. The compelling true story of a young boy left to fend for himself on the rough streets of Chicago, will speak to any young teen who has felt abandoned, lost, and perhaps just misunderstood.

This list offers many materials that deal with intense, serious and contemporary real world issues.

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

This guide is for readers who are looking for materials with similar themes, such as characters, artwork, and setting as in Greg Neri’s Yummy: The Last Days of A Southside Shorty. Biographical comic books; Comic books; Graphic novels
Tone:  Emotionally intense; Haunting
Writing Style:Compelling; Gritty                                                                                                                                         Illustration:Black-and-white; Realistic

Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence

This is Geoffrey Canada’s gripping and excruciatingly honest memoir about growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s. Jamar Nicholas adapted Canada’s book into a graphic novel primarily focusing on Canada’s personal journey; from the streets, home-life and to school. Nicholas uses black, white, and gray illustrations similar to those in DuBurke’s work, Yummy.    

Darius & Twig

Darius and Twig are best friends growing up in the Harlem. Both have dreams that will help them escape the pressures of older bullies and unsupportive parents and move onto greater and betters   places. In this gritty, suspenseful, street-smart story Darius and Twig must learn how to navigate and overcome the obstacles that the streets have to offer.         

How It Went Down

This realistic fiction novel, told from multiple perspectives, is the story of Tariq Johnson, a young black male, who was gunned down in front of the bodega by Jack Franklin, a white male. This emotionally intense, character driven story is a fast paced and serious novel that sheds light on real life situations that happen everyday in urban neighborhoods.        

Grace After Midnight: A Memoir 

Feicia Pearson, chronicles her journey from crack baby to foster child, from homeless drug dealer to convicted murderer and her unlikely success at landing a role on HBO’s The Wire. Like Yummy, Felicia started with dark past; drug addicted parents and no real guidance, but her story is one that depicts struggle, growth and wisdom.                                                           

Boyz N the Hood

Growing up in South Central Los Angeles is bleak and sometimes deadly; the neighborhood is plagued with drive-by-shootings, unemployment and drugs. For three best friends, living in the hood is their reality but hopefully not their destiny. The movie is gritty, raw, and powerfully moving and shows just how easy it is to get caught up in urban violence. 

A Rose that Grew from the Concrete

A collection of more than one hundred poems reproduced in Shakur’s handwriting. The poems, like the recollections of young Yummy, are passionate, sometimes angry, and often captivating. The book includes some of Shakur’s drawings as well as a few black and white photographs of Shakur.                                                                                                                                                 

The Interrupters

The Interrupters is a PBS Frontline documentary filmed on streets of Chicago, IL. This intense, gritty and deeply moving documentary follows three Violence Interrupters in their journey to try and stop violence before it begins. They aim to spread peace, acceptance, and understanding to the angry and misled youth. (Updates and more information about some of the young people whose stories were filmed are available on PBS.)                                                                                   

"Murder in Miniature"

The 1994 Time magazine article “Murder in Miniature” talks about the harsh and extremely intense life of Robert ‘Yummy’ Sandifer. The article interviews Yummy’s mother, his therapist and people from the neighborhood who knew him. This article delves deeper into the heart of Yummy’s short existence and gives a reader more insight into his troubled life. Filled with adjectives, such as ‘sick,’ ‘good boy,’ ‘bully’ and ‘my friend,’ leave the reader to decide if Yummy was a cold blooded killer or a young boy who society had left to fend for himself. (Access available through Academic Search Premier with a valid library card.)                                                                           
 

What's Going On

Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going  On talks about the hate, killing and darkness, but in a positive and uplifting way. Gaye sings “For only love can conquer hate/ You know we've got to find a way/To bring some lovin' here today,” which emphasizes that what people need is love and perhaps that will help to heal wounded youth. As Greg Neri, the author of Yummy, and the Times’ article both discuss, perhaps Yummy could have been saved if only there were people to look over him and protect him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

The Essential Nas

Check out Nas’ I Can and One Mic. I Can promotes the idea that no matter the color of your skin, you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up. One Mic says that being Black in America is hard, but no matter your struggle, you can get through it and come out stronger and wiser. Neri’s narrator Roger struggles with Yummy’s death and the fact that his older brother prefers to spend time with his friends who are in a gang.