psychoduckie's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this book. It has a lot of emotion since Tyrell's dad is out of jail and since Troy is gone. Tyrell is a man. But his dad can't understand that. Can't wait until the next one comes out! (if there is one)
renatasnacks's review against another edition
4.0
A good follow-up to Tyrell. I liked the complicated relationship between Tyrell and his father, and I couldn't look away from the trainwreck of his parents' reunion. I don't know if Booth has plans for a third book about Tyrell, but after (no spoiler) the ending of this one, I'd definitely read a third book about him.
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
Never read TYRELL and it didn't matter (it was a little slow at the front of the story, just picking up who the characters were, but that was so minor). This book was incredibly written, and Ty's got one of the best and most authentic voices I've read in a long time. A killer character with a heart of gold in a world that's anything but that.
Longer review to come.
Never read TYRELL and it didn't matter (it was a little slow at the front of the story, just picking up who the characters were, but that was so minor). This book was incredibly written, and Ty's got one of the best and most authentic voices I've read in a long time. A killer character with a heart of gold in a world that's anything but that.
Longer review to come.
trishabee2000's review against another edition
3.0
The strength of this book is also its weakness - the realist portrayal of the book's narrator Tyrell and his life. While Tyrell is facing many difficult decisions, he seems to be making too many of the wrong choices. While this a book my own students would read because they seem their own lives in it, that may be a reason for them not to read it. It does not show an alternative to the lives they are faced with, only more of the same, but maybe that changes in the rest of the series.
voya_k's review against another edition
5.0
Worthy sequel to Tyrell, one of my favorite teen books of the last 10 years. This one is like the Empire Strikes Back of what I hope will be a trilogy -- deeper conflicts, fighting with your dad over who is the man and more dangerous company. Tyrell faces lots of things that could easily be treated as cliche by a less gifted writer. Instead, Coe Booth lets us see deep inside Tyrell's thought processes and emotional reasoning. When he makes the wrong choices, you can see how close he came to almost making the right ones, if only the circumstances were just a little bit different.
claudiaswisher's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book with my 'teacher hat' and realized on page 2 there was no way we could use the book as a required assignment. Booth has the courage to let her characters speak authentically, in their own words. The level of profanity surprised even me, a 37-year teacher. BUT I get it, and I absolutely believe this is Tyrell's voice, and Cal's voice. These kids are not offended by each other's language.
I also noticed that Booth changes her language register in dialogue to help characterize her people. It's beautifully done.
So, who is Tyrell and why is he in Bronxwood? He's a 16-year-old man child. Man, because he's been abandoned by his father who's in jail, and by his mother who is a weakling looking for someone to take care of her. Ty has watched his father beat his mother, deal drugs, and leave the family for periodic trips to jail. Ty's watched his little brother Troy being bounced from foster home to foster home. He's the only member of his family to stay in touch with Troy, not to look 'good' for the social worker, but because he genuinely loves his little brother. Ty's the boy who is so girl crazy, but needs to be 'in charge' of a relationship. He can't forgive his former girlfriend, and he can't seem to get over his romantic notions about relationships.
Ty's the kid who's living with drug dealers, trying desperately to stay out of that dangerous business.
He's the man who is expected to become a child once his father is released from prison...again. His father realizes Ty has grown physically, mentally, and emotionally. In many ways, Ty is now a threat to his father's domination of the family. Their power struggles are only beginning.
Humor, tragedy, hope and despair haunt Ty. He sees so many broken relationships, broken lives...He goes with his gut in most situations, and I fear for him.
Now reading Tyrell, the first book, and it's filling in some holes in this story, but I felt like I knew Ty well from this book, and I wanted to give him a safe place to lay his head and rest, free from all the responsibilities he's taken on.
I also noticed that Booth changes her language register in dialogue to help characterize her people. It's beautifully done.
So, who is Tyrell and why is he in Bronxwood? He's a 16-year-old man child. Man, because he's been abandoned by his father who's in jail, and by his mother who is a weakling looking for someone to take care of her. Ty has watched his father beat his mother, deal drugs, and leave the family for periodic trips to jail. Ty's watched his little brother Troy being bounced from foster home to foster home. He's the only member of his family to stay in touch with Troy, not to look 'good' for the social worker, but because he genuinely loves his little brother. Ty's the boy who is so girl crazy, but needs to be 'in charge' of a relationship. He can't forgive his former girlfriend, and he can't seem to get over his romantic notions about relationships.
Ty's the kid who's living with drug dealers, trying desperately to stay out of that dangerous business.
He's the man who is expected to become a child once his father is released from prison...again. His father realizes Ty has grown physically, mentally, and emotionally. In many ways, Ty is now a threat to his father's domination of the family. Their power struggles are only beginning.
Humor, tragedy, hope and despair haunt Ty. He sees so many broken relationships, broken lives...He goes with his gut in most situations, and I fear for him.
Now reading Tyrell, the first book, and it's filling in some holes in this story, but I felt like I knew Ty well from this book, and I wanted to give him a safe place to lay his head and rest, free from all the responsibilities he's taken on.
kdotsart's review against another edition
4.0
Not quite as good as the first one, but I was more familiar with what to expect this time. I assume there's another book in the works based on how this ended. Tyrell seems more human in this book. We see more about what he thinks it takes to be a man and how watching his dad has made more of an impact than he thought, but not in the way his dad thinks.
bzzlarabzz's review
I'm not giving this a star rating, because I don't think it would be fair. This book is not for me. It wasn't written for me. It didn't interest me. I did not enjoy reading it. But many of my students will love it. Students who hate to read will actually read it. They may even look for other books in this series, leading to other books from this publisher, and maybe even prompting them to continue reading even after they're not being asked (maybe even coerced) by a teacher. And that is something I love.
crystal_reads's review against another edition
4.0
This was another intense book. Tyrell is working so hard to be a man. He is up against difficult circumstances and he just keeps trying to do the best that he can to be a man he can respect. Booth made me really care about Tyrell ans his family. I am hoping for another book to hear more of his story.
debz57a52's review
3.0
I did like this book as a sequel, but it still feels like there's more to the story. A few of the conflicts aren't really resolved. However, Coe Booth continues to adopt the same narrator, Tyrell, and his unique style of narration to extend the story. I'm excited to have this volume because I had several students read Tyrell last year and finish it, saying "I want to read another book like this one," and I wasn't able to meet all their needs. With a second book in the series, I have a ready answer.
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