Neri's 2007 first novella, Chess Rumble, is about an 11-year-old inner city teen named Marcus who fights back against his bully, but is challenged by a grandmaster to fight his battles on the chess board instead. Chess Rumble received praise from critics and bloggers. School Library Journal said the book is a good pick for reluctant readers. The book was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English. In 2010, Neri received the Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award from the International Reading Association for his free-verse on Chess Rumble. Neri's first novel, Surf Mules, revolves around two California surfers who find themselves embroiled in a world of disorganized crime. Neri's graphic novel is about Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, who was eleven years old in 1994 when he became a fugitive from justice after accidentally killing a neighbor girl, before being killed by the gang he was in. His novel Ghetto Cowboy is inspired by the real life black urban cowboys in Philadelphia. The story is about an 11-year-old named Cole who is abandoned on the doorstep of the father he's never met, but befriends a horse and eventually becomes a cowboy. Neri has said he was inspired by an article in Life magazine. The Christian Science Monitor praised the book. Knockout Games is based on the real-life origins of the infamous knockout games in St. Louis of recent years. The story concerns a white girl who falls in with a group of middle graders and high schoolers who play the dreaded game. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review. Neri's first picture book and biography charted the rags to riches rise of Johnny Cash. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review. Neri's middle grade novel, Tru & Nelle is a detective story starring Harper Lee and Truman Capote as children growing up in the Deep South during the Depression. In 2018 Neri wrote Grand Theft Horse, a biography of horse trainer Gail Ruffu.
Writing approach
Neri has been asked about what themes he writes about and for whom. He has said that "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 big, full of words, and 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."
