TYRELL by Coe Booth
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 10/1/06
Publisher: Scholastic
Reviewed by: Long Nguyen
Rating: 5 Stars
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!
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 10/1/06
Publisher: Scholastic
Reviewed by: Long Nguyen
Rating: 5 Stars
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!
Tyrell
by Coe Booth
by Coe Booth