Review: Yummy!

[Danielle Sonni]

 

Yummy, The Last Days of a Southside Story by G. Neri

This graphic novel was illustrated very much like a black and white comic strip and had only a few words per image. "Yummy" is the true story of a gang shooting in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago in 1994. The story is told by the narrator, 11 year-old Roger. Roger is the same age as Yummy and knows him from school and the neighborhood. We learn that Yummy became a member of the Black Disciples gang (at age 11!) and was trying to make a name for himself and gain respect by committing numerous crimes and acting tough. Roger's brother, Gary, is also in the Black Disciples gang. Yummy tries to kill some rivals on the street and innocent bystander Shavon 14 year-old girl, gets killed by Yummy. The shooting is all over the news (gaining national attention, even from Pres. Clinton), everyone in the neighborhood is mourning, and Yummy is on the run. The Black Disciples hid Yummy while a city-wide man hunt (or "boy" hunt as Roger says) ensues. While Yummy is still missing, Roger's teacher asks the class to write about paper about "WHY" Yummy is the way he is. Roger includes the opinions of "WHY" from all types of people: neighbors, kids, adults, police, lawyers, news anchors, politicians, other gang members. Some blame the environment, Yummy, Yummy's lack of love/parental support, the system, the gangs, etc. We hear all points-of-view on the matter of gang violence. After 4 days of hiding, Yummy is scared and alone and calls his grandma to get him, he thinks of turning himself in. Instead, the Black Disciples pick him up and kill him - he was beginning to cause too much trouble and draw too much attention to the gang. At the end, Roger says, "I don't know which was worse, the way Yummy lived or the way he died."

This book fits the YA lit criteria and my summary doesn't fully encompass how sad and depressing this story is. Yummy was described in the book as carrying around a teddy bear and loving candy (hence his nickname), truly a little boy, yet committing very violent crimes. Yummy's dad was in prison and his mother was a drug dealer and prostitute who abused him and he was sent to live with his grandma (who had ~20 other kids to care for). The YA point-of-view is definitely shown, and it is interesting to hear the story from Roger since he is very similar to Yummy (age, neighborhood) and it shows the different ways a young boy can choose to live his life. The issues in this story are sadly prevalent still today in Chicago, and I can imagine many kids can relate to this story. Many CPS students are in the same situation as Roger and Yummy. The pointless violence expressed in "Yummy" is a staple of the local news, kids killing kids every day.

This book is a very easy read and would be appropriate for middle schoolers as well as high schoolers. I think "Yummy" would be a nice companion piece or introduction piece to a a more complex text. "Yummy" will spark a lot of discussion and emotion and would be a great way to start a unit on violence, urban issues, issues of race/justice. Being from Chicago/burbs, the story meant more to me and I think Chicago students would really like this aspect as well (references to the Bulls, Chicago buildings, etc).

I liked "Yummy" because by the end of the book I was not sure who was the villain and who was the blame. It left me questioning why this horrible violence is so prevalent in our city (and society) and asking myself what can be done? And I just feel sick about it. Warning: this is not an uplifting, feel good book!

 

This link is to the author's site about Yummy http://www.gregneri.com/g.neri_yummy.html

This site has a video of G. Neri speaking about the book, reviews, a blog, and historical/factual documents about the true events of Yummy.

Yummy himself was on the cover of TIME Magazine in 1994 due the sensational nationwide coverage and response to the murder. Here is a link to the TIME article:http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981460,00.html