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A review by kingadrienne
Tyrell by Coe Booth
4.0
This is one of the most popular books in my school library. I can't keep it on the shelves and I have multiple copies. I finally had one in long enough to be able to read it myself, and I get why. This is realistic and gritty and difficult.
I have had students tell me they love it because it's so real and they relate. One student told me it felt real but it was a little boring because "nothing really happened", before pausing and telling me, "but that's how life is, I guess. It's just every day life." There is an event this builds up to, the party Ty is trying to plan. (That's not a spoiler.) But that's not what this book is really about. The beauty of this is in the details. It's maddening and heartbreaking and stressful, with some smiles in there. It's about Tyrell's mom, about his brother Troy, how he thinks, the relationships, what he is and is not willing to do to provide for his family, the difficulty of being a 15 year old with too much to carry, the difficulty of being young and having no one to count on...This is a book about the day to day and it's so well done. I look forward to reading the sequel.
I have had students tell me they love it because it's so real and they relate. One student told me it felt real but it was a little boring because "nothing really happened", before pausing and telling me, "but that's how life is, I guess. It's just every day life." There is an event this builds up to, the party Ty is trying to plan. (That's not a spoiler.) But that's not what this book is really about. The beauty of this is in the details. It's maddening and heartbreaking and stressful, with some smiles in there. It's about Tyrell's mom, about his brother Troy, how he thinks, the relationships, what he is and is not willing to do to provide for his family, the difficulty of being a 15 year old with too much to carry, the difficulty of being young and having no one to count on...This is a book about the day to day and it's so well done. I look forward to reading the sequel.