Book review: Tyrell

Booth, Coe. (2006). Tyrell. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Tyrell Green is a homeless 15-year-old who is staying, temporarily he hopes, in a roach-infested shelter in the Bronx with his mother and 7-year-old brother. His father is in prison for the third time, and the family was evicted from their apartment for not paying rent. Tyrell has dropped out of a school that he describes as preparation for prison--metal detectors at the door, students who always want to fight. Tyrell works at making sure his little brother is fed, clothed and educated, and tries to come up with a way to get his family out of the filthy shelter.

"Urban fiction" is not a genre that I expected to enjoy, but I really loved this book, and Tyrell's character. He's a kid with a lot of odds against him and a bit of an anger management problem, but he is also trying to do the right thing. He refuses to sell drugs, although a couple of his friends try to talk him into "doing business" with them. He has a long-term girlfriend to whom he is faithful; he visits her in the afternoons and she turns her Virgin Mary statue around as they make out. Although he refuses to go to school, he makes sure his brother gets there and tries to get him out of a special needs class that he doesn't belong in. Tyrell's mother acts more like a juvenile than Tyrell himself does, trying to convince Tyrell to sell drugs, forcing Tyrell's brother to stay in a special needs class so that she can get a government check, going off to party all night and leaving Tyrell and his brother alone. Tyrell's father, a disc jockey who was arrested due to throwing parties with illegal activity, is more likeable. Tyrell says that his father, prior to his arrest, would force him to go to school, and he says that when he is released, he's going to stick to playing weddings and private parties rather than breaking into buildings and throwing illegal parties with drugs and prostitution. Of course Tyrell's overly-entitled mother complains, saying that he needs to keep playing the illegal parties because they pay better, that he should just "be careful next time." Tyrell asks her why money is more important to her than her husband trying to do the right thing.

The women in this story seem to be divided into two categories: "smart women," which Tyrell's father warns him to stay away from because "they're too independent and won't let you take care of them." (Translation: they won't let you tell them what to do.) The other extreme are the women like Tyrell's mother, who behave like children, refuse to work, and expect men to "take care of them" even if that means doing something illegal. In between there are the religious women who pray for the homeless and cook their meals; Tyrell's girlfriend's mother fits in this category.

The book is written in Tyrell's language, which includes a lot of bad grammar, slang, and yes, profanity. But it is very readable and at the end, the reader wants to give Tyrell a hug, and a deposit for a clean apartment for himself and his brother.

Coe Booth lives in the Bronx and has worked with teens and families in crisis there; I am assuming this novel is based on that experience.