G. Neri is the Coretta Scott King award-winning author of the middle-grade books Yummy and Chess Rumble, both ALA Notable Books. He is also the author of  the YA novels Surf Mules, and his newest, the Junior Library Guild selection Ghetto Cowboy. In 2010, he won the International Reading Association's Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award. His work has been honored by the Simon Weisenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance. He writes for reluctant readers, especially urban boys and teens at risk from ages 8 to 18, creating unique formats and voices that speak directly to young people who don’t like to read. 

Neri has been a featured author/ speaker in schools and libraries around the country. He has spoken at conferences and book festivals in New York, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Chicago, New Orleans, Nashville, Philadelphia, Orlando, Atlanta and elsewhere.

Prior to being a writer, he was an award-winning filmmaker and new media producer from Los Angeles, who also taught animation and storytelling to inner-city youth. Neri now lives in Tampa, where he is writing full-time.

School rates:

$1,200 per day, includes up to three 50 minute classroom/ library presentations or one large assembly presentation and a class workshop. 

There is a sliding scale for library visits, local schools, and Title 1 schools. I'm all about access, so let me know what you can afford and we'll make it work. Sometimes I can work in a free visit if other visits have also been scheduled and time is permitting. Also, individual class visits are negotiable. For out of town visits, it is encouraged to team up with other nearby schools and libraries in order to share costs.

To book G. Neri for an event, send a request to greg@gregneri.com. 

Skype visits through video conferencing, Skype, and web chats are also available options for events outside of the Gulf Coast Florida area. A discounted fee of $150 per class makes this a viable option for schools on a budget. 20 minute visits are free.

Mr. Neri can speak about his life as a writer with an overview of all his books or focus on one or more of the following subjects:

 • Yummy's World: the author explores the tough issues that led Yummy Sandifer to gangs and a tragic early ending. (Middle Grades, High School)  

•  Using free-verse to free up your writing: Writing workshop exploring free-verse as a way to discover the inner truths in your writing.

•   Finding your Book: reinventing stories for urban boys who don't read (In service for teachers)

 “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 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." 

--G. Neri

"Neri's novel catches readers' interest on the very first page and propels them to the end in this intense, funny, and exciting read. Reluctant readers will be hooked on this fast-paced adventure... it's a definite buy."  -SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

                     BOOKS BY G. NERI

It is highly recommended that students be familiar with his work or a particular book before the visit. Discounted classroom sets can be ordered in advance and the author will sign all copies in person.

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty is a graphic novel about Eleven-year-old Roger trying to make sense of his classmate Robert "Yummy" Sandifer's death, but first he has to make sense of Yummy's life. Yummy could be as tough as a pit bull sometimes. Other times he was as sweet as the sugary treats he loved to eat. Was Yummy some sort of monster, or just another kid?

YUMMY is the winner of a 2011 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award from the American Library Association! The ALA also named it a 2011 Notable Book, a 2011 Great Graphic Novel for Teens, and a YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist  also named YUMMY to their Best of 2010 lists.

Illustrated by Randy duBurke
ISBN-13: 978-1584302674
Graphic fiction. ages 12 & up
from Lee & Low Books
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Chess Rumble is the story of a young man named Marcus who is one fight away from being kicked out of school, when he encounters an unlikely chess master who challenges him to fight his battles on the chess board. Inspired by inner-city school chess enrichment programs, Chess Rumble explores the ways this strategic game empowers young people with the skills they need to anticipate their moves through the game of life. 

Chess Rumble was named a 2008 American Library Association Notable Book and 2009 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Neri won the IRA Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award for this book in 2010. It was also honored by the International Readers Association, Bank Street College of Education, The National Council of Teachers of English, The Society of School Librarians International, and was named to the IRA Young Adults' Choices list.

ISBN: 978-1-58430-279-7. Interest & Reading Level: Grades 4-9. Themes: chess, family, school, bullying, conflict resolution, coping with death, mentors, urban life, African American interest. 

To receive school discounts for class sets of Yummy or Chess Rumble, visit http://leeandlow.com/order/special.html or call toll free 1.888.320.3190 

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Surf Mules is the story of two surfers who find themselves embroiled in a world of disorganized crime. When Logan goes searching for the Perfect Monster Wave, he doesn’t expect his former best friend to be killed by it. Add to this a deadbeat dad who bankrupted his family and the possibility of college going down the drain, and Logan is suddenly in a tailspin. So when small-time dealer Broza offers Logan and his dropout pal, Z-boy, a summer job that could make them rich, it seems his problems might be solved. But between Z-boy’s constant screwups, a band of Nazi surfers out for blood, and a mysterious stranger on their tail, Logan is starting to have some serious doubts about hauling contraband across country, and hopes just to make it home alive.

Hardcover | 288 pages | ISBN 9780399250866 |  Putnam Juvenile | 14 years and up I THEMES: Surfing, friendship, death, drug trafficking, adulthood.