Tyrell

Reviewed by Long Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

Coe Booth's first novel, TYRELL, is a masterfully written, gritty reality check of urban life through the eyes of a heavily burdened fifteen-year-old. After his father is sentenced to prison (for the third time), it is up to Tyrell Green to take care of both his deranged mother and his seven-year-old brother, Troy. But Tyrell is only fifteen! Not only is he living in a completely run-down shelter, but he is broke, out of school, and struggling for some way to earn money to get his mom and brother out of shelter care and into an apartment of their own.

In a place like the Bronx, it is easy for young adults to get caught up in a life of crime. Tyrell knows this, but is also a man of principle (for the most part, at least). Refusing to earn his quick buck through such shady sources as drug dealing, he originates a plan to get the money he needs to get things back to the way they were. The question of whether it will work, or whether it will blow up in his face....you'll have to read TYRELL to find out (but it's worth it!)

The great thing about TYRELL is that Coe Booth keeps the pressure on at all times. Real life drama is quilted into the novel until the very end, and it is both humbling and very entertaining to read. She also incorporates real urban vernacular (e.g. "slang") to create an extremely real and convincing narrative.

Coe Booth creates an atmosphere so believable it's impossible not to walk away after reading the novel and not have taken something with you. The characters experience the lowest of lows, the highest of highs, and everything in-between throughout the course of the story--and it doesn't stop until the very end. Dripping from head to toe with sharp turns and very surprising climaxes, it's sure to keep you consumed until the last page.

It's a lot to pack into a story, but Booth does it gracefully and with extraordinary skill. I praise Ms. Booth's first novel and am waiting anxiously for the next.

Plus, she's a PUSH novelist, and it doesn't get much better than PUSH!

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

I read this book at my middle school with my reading teacher and i loved it it was so wonderful great story i want to read more stories from this author people you should get this book you would love it to although it is sad it is a good read and a page turner for me

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Awesome

This+was+an+extremely+good+book..+i+ened+up+talking+like+him+for+a+week+after+i+read+it+but+it+was+worth+it+lol.+His+other+book+kendra+is+just+as+good+if+not+better.+I+reccomend+both%21

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I Recommend It AS SAD, AWESOME, AND INTERESTING BOOK

Tyrell by Coe Booth is a very sad, and awesome book. IT is a very good book. I would recommend it to a friend and i would also recommend it to young adults and other teenagers like me as well and kids like twelve or eleven years old i would recommend it to. Tyrell talks about how tyrell has to become the man of the house. His mother and his little brother has to live in the shelter. IN the book, it seems like everybody is putting pressure on tyrell ,especially his own mother because his father is locked up. so I love the book i fell in love with it when i first read the first chapter and it is also very interesting. BUT the only bad thing is that the book has very short chapters. but i still recommend it to other people who would love to read the book... S


SO PICK UP THE BOOK PEOPLE!! it is worth your money people!! if you fall in love with the book!!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

distasteful

I was so unpleased with the book in the first chapter I skipped to the middle then the end of the book to see if it got any better. And it didn't. the language is inappropriate for school age children. I do not want my kids to think that this kind of language and/or grammar is appropriate. It is very upsetting to know that this book is recommended for kids at the age of 12.

2 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

U REALLY SHOULD READ THIS BOOK ITS VERY VERY VERY GOOD ; )

i really loved the book it really felt like i was in it and it got drama in it that some kids are dealing with right now. and how tyrell and jasmine is together wow if that was me it would have be realllllllllllllllllly hard for me to sleep with tyrell it feels like i already seen/know him all ready in real life. But anywayz the book was really good and i hope it has a part 2 in the book and i will share it out to everyone i know including in my teachers.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The BEST book i have ever read!

I LOVED this book! i am 15 and i really dont like to read, unless i have to...but i went to a local library were i live and i saw 'Tyrell' on the shelf...once i opened it i could not put it down! I finished that book in 1 1/2 days! I am really looking forward to reading more of Coe Booths book. I really enjoyed the book very much!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Great Read

I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about real life drama. It was a really really really good book. I found myself rooting for Tyrell all the way through.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

So good!!!!!!

This is such a great book. I'm a kid myself and this is so relatable,and real. It keeps you wanting more and more. Its also a rude awaking because this happens to kids all across america, its made me way waymore aware

Cool

You have to read this book its awsome

I LOVETHIS BOOK!

TYRELL is an amazing book. This is my first time reading a book on a boys perspective of the world, life, girls, and his feelings. The cute things his little brother said made me smile, and the stuff Tyrell thought to himself made me laugh! In the book you got to fight through the sad parts, and just laugh at the funny parts. My favorite part of the book was Jasmine & Tyrell. From the start I had a funny feeling bout Novisha. I just did not like that girl. So me and my friends would always say "TEAM JASMINE" or "Team Novisha" lol talking about wich girl was better for him. But this wasa goodI recomend to anyone who loves drama, and likes to laugh!

completely awsome

tyrell is your adverage person growing upp in poverty ..i can copletely relate

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

wonderful

omg best freakin book eve

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Terrible!!!!

I was so unpleased with this book that I tossed it in the trash when I got done. This book is about Tyrell, who lives in a bad lifestyle. He has to care for his mother and his brother, Troy. They live in a shelter, but they upgrade to a low budget hotel. On the way, he meets a girl named Jasmine. She likes him, and so does he, but he has a girlfriend, Novisha. Tyrell is trying to make money to get an apartment. His plan is to plan a huge party. So he does, but his girlfriend comes and there is this guy that keeps stalking her. Tyrell and him get into it. The boy says that he has had sex with Novisha. Tyrell gets so mad. Then, he breaks up with Novisha. He goes back home and his brother is gone. The child services took him. He is now mad at his mother. So, he doesn't want to stay with her. She plans to go to court to get him back. Tyrell leaves and he grabs something to eat with Jasmine. THE END! Sounds good but it isn't. There is too much profanity!!!!

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

WOW!!!

I LOVE THIS BOOK IT IS SO GOOD IT ALSO HAS A REALISM TO IT...IT SHOWS HOW DIFFICULT LIFE CAN BE FOR SOME TEENAGERS OUT THERE...IM JUST 14 BUT I CAN REALLY RELATE...ITS NOTHING BUT PRESURE OUT HERE IN THE REAL WORLD....I JUST LOVE AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!

The Best Book There Is!!!

Tyrell was one of the most realist books there could possibly be. It basically shows what some average African Americans have to go through. Tyrell's case was not the most typical case of life there is, but it partially is. This book has a lot of structure and I wouldnt be surprised if it recieved an award. If the author of Tyrell were to come out with another book. I surely would be the first to buy it.
I recommened tis book to all teenagers. I myself am a teenager and I recommened it to all my friends. This book is mostly for the mature people readers out there who really dont mind the reading realistic fiction. Ms. Coe Booth has done an outstanding job writing this noveland I cant wait to read anymore of her books!!!

Tyrell

Tyrell is a teenager who like the review says can't get a break. He has reasons of being suspicious of his girlfriend flirting with some other guy, he and his mother can't agree on anything, can't talk without yelling and he seems like he can't take it anymore. He does things he never thought he would do and without his family there, there is no support. When his girlfriend worries about him, his mom hasn't seen him and pretty much act like she doesn't even care, she wants him to earn money because she doesn't feel like working, and because she thinks he's the man in the house. She also wants him to sell drugs, his father is in jail and on top of that he doesn't know what to do. He tries to make things right and restore his family, with or without his "father" before he just doesn't care anymore and before his world falls apart.

Great!!

THIS BOOK WAS REALLY GOOD I DIDNT EVEN GET A CHANCE 2 FINISH BUT THE LIL BIT I DID READ IT WAS GOOD I RECOMMEND IT!!

Gwen S.

This book was awesome. I really loved it, it was so real. It was one of the few books that I started reading it and I couldn¿t put it down. There was love triangle between him, Novisha, and Jasmine. I was hoping that him and Jasmine ended up together and I was happy that they did. I didn¿t like the way that Novisha treated him. She seemed very stuck-up and like he wasn¿t good enough for him. The fact that Tyrell was homeless really made me love his character. The fact that he really wanted to help his family was very sweet. You could tell that he loved Troy and wasn¿t gonna let him get taken away and out into the system. His mother seemed like the type of mother that didn¿t really care either way what happened to her children. I really wished that the author let us get to know the father a little better. I didn¿t get good vibes from Tyrell¿s fathers¿ friend either. He seemed like he was taking advantage of the fact that his best friend was in jail (for the third time.) He shouldn¿t have tried to get with the mother just to use the equipment. And if he was gonna use it he should have asked the father, like a normal person would. I am happy that everything worked out for Tyrell in the end. Although it doesn¿t surprise me that Novisha actually wasn¿t a virgin, it was kind of obvious. I hope that Coe Booth does a sequel to Tyrell because it was a great book. 5 STARS!!

I LOVED THE BOOK TYRELL!!!

Omg!! i really loved this book because it has real meaning to it! and tyrell is the kinda book that yu wished that came out in theaters man i loved this book and wished there was a second version to it!!! i brought that book every where i went and told everybody in seattle about that book!! yeah i loved it!