MIRACLE'S BOYS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2006. MIRACLE’S BOYS. G.P.Putnam's Sons, New York. ISBN: 978-0142406021.

PLOT SUMMARY

Three brothers struggle to get by in New York City after the death of their mother. Ty'ree, the oldest is twenty two and has put college on hold to keep his family together. Charlie, is back home after spending two years at Rahway, a home for wayward boys. Charlie was away when his mother died and only allowed a short visit home for his mother's funeral. Charlie carries around his problems, "It's more like a gorilla on his back than a monkey." The youngest brother, Lafayette is confused about his last memories of his mother. His most important possession is a picture of his mom.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Ages 9-12 Coretta Scott King Award
A sad but heart-warming story that shows the strength and love of three African American brothers who have experienced a tragic setback in their already difficult lives. This book is a wonderful example of how young adults can fight all odds. With the help of each other they find that there is still hope. They are barely getting by living on their own but sticking together will help them accomplish the task. I would recommend this book for both young folks and adults. It gives opportunities for discussion. It was a well written novel with sincere honest emotion.

REVIEWS

Amazon.com
"Sometimes I feel like our life is one big work of art--it's everything" [Charlie] stared down at his bare feet. "And nothing."
"This isn't art," I said. "It's our block! It's our life."
If only, if only... Life is full of poignant hypotheticals for Ty'ree, Charlie, and Lafayette, three brothers who are raising themselves after they lost their father to a drowning accident and their mother to diabetes. Each boy deals with his grief in his own way: the oldest, Ty'ree, has given up his dreams of college to work full time to support the others. Charlie is slipping into a life of crime, and is just back, angry and alienated, from two years at a correctional facility. Lafayette, the youngest brother, has retreated inward, avoiding his friends and blaming himself for his mother's death. These three are struggling against pretty large odds, but "brother to brother to brother," they can survive. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
Once again, Woodson (If You Come Softly; From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun) reveals a keen understanding of the adolescent psyche via the narration of a winning seventh-grader. Lafayette, whose mother has recently died, is worried that some day he will be separated from his two older brothers: high-school-graduate Ty'ree, who gave up a scholarship to MIT to take care of his younger siblings; and Charlie, the rebellious middle boy, who, after spending more than two years in a correctional facility, has returned home cold and tough. (Lafayette calls him "Newcharlie," because his brother, with whom he was once so close, now seems unrecognizable to him.) Viewing household tensions and hardships through Lafayette's eyes, readers will come to realize each character's internal conflicts and recognize their desperate need to cling together as a family. The boys' loyalties to one another are tested during a cathartic climax, though it is resolved a bit too easily, and Lafayette's visions of his mother aren't fully developed or integrated into the plot. Gang violence and urban poverty play an integral part in this novel, but what readers will remember most is the brothers' deep-rooted affection for one another. An intelligently wrought, thought-provoking story. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

CONNECTIONS

Books by Jacqueline Woodson
IF YOU COME SOFTLY. 2006 Puffin; Reissue edition, ISBN-10: 0142406015
LOCOMOTION. 2004 . Puffin, NewYork ISBN 0142401498 ISBN-13: 978-0142401491