Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, American Library Association (ALA)
Best Books, Kirkus Reviews
Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, American Library Association (ALA)
Editor's Choice, Booklist
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, American Library Association (ALA)
Notable Books for a Global Society, International Literacy Association (ILA)
100 Magnificent Children's Books, Fuse #8 Production, SLJ
Best Books of the Year, Publishers Weekly
Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Cybils Award Winner - Graphic Novel Category, The Cybils
Glyph Award Nominee, The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC)
Nomination, Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Once Upon a World Children's Book Award, The Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance Library and Archives
Storytelling World Honor Award, Storytelling World
Street Lit Book Award, Emerging Classic Winner, Street Lit Book Award Medal Committee
Ten Best Nexus Graphics Books, The SF Site
Top 10 List, Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers, American Library Association (ALA)
Top Ten Great Graphic Novels, Booklist
A graphic novel based on the life and death of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, an eleven-year-old gang member from Chicago's Southside who was killed by his own gang members.
Eleven-year-old Roger is 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?
As Roger searches for the truth, he finds more and more questions. How did Yummy end up in so much trouble? Did he really kill someone? And why do all the answers seem to lead back to a gang-the same gang Roger's older brother belongs to?
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty is a compelling dramatization based on events that occurred in Chicago in 1994. This gritty exploration of youth gang life will force readers to question their own understandings of good and bad, right and wrong.