Miracle's Boys (novel)
Encyclopedia
Miracle’s Boys is a young adult novel by Jacqueline Woodson featuring three young bi-racial brothers growing up without parents in New York. It won the Coretta Scott King Award
in 2001.
Ty'ree and Lafayette have built a stable, if quiet, relationship and are comforted by predictable daily routines. Charlie introduces an element of chaos and hostility that neither of his brothers is able to relate to. In response they begin talking to each other in a way they hadn't been able to previously. They fear for Charlie and want to help him overcome his anger and grief. In attempting to help Charlie, they end up working through their grief as well. The story is told almost exclusively through dialogue with little action actually taking place.
's earlier works, both featuring streetwise orphans who seek understanding of the world through contemporary sources such as films, music and art.
off the coast of Seattle, Washington and in Olivebridge, NY. Her goal in writing the book was to create a work with no female characters and to explore what it's like to grow up poor. "I also wanted to write about how hard it is to lose someone you love—in this case, both parents—and how that pain starts shaping itself into other things sometimes like anger and isolation."
based on the novel was released in February 2005.
In 2001 the book was released as an audiobook. Actor Dule Hill
, was given positive reviews for his narration due to his use of staccato, halting vocalizations which underlined the uncertainty of the characters. The abrupt delivery is then contrasted to his softer voice when speaking the memories of the boy's mother. "Hill's narrative style lends a necessary strength to this gritty story of survival in the face of enormous odds." Publishers Weekly
's review also called Hill's performance 'powerful' and commends him for his delivery, which adds resonance to Woodson's message of love and hope.
Coretta Scott King Award
The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association...
in 2001.
Plot
At twenty-one Ty'ree, the eldest of three brothers, is now caring for his younger siblings. Lafayette, twelve, is still grieving and blames himself for not being able to save his mother, who died from an insulin shock two years earlier; and Charlie, fifteen, has just returned from Rahway Home for Boys where he has been imprisoned for the last three years after being convicted of armed robbery.Ty'ree and Lafayette have built a stable, if quiet, relationship and are comforted by predictable daily routines. Charlie introduces an element of chaos and hostility that neither of his brothers is able to relate to. In response they begin talking to each other in a way they hadn't been able to previously. They fear for Charlie and want to help him overcome his anger and grief. In attempting to help Charlie, they end up working through their grief as well. The story is told almost exclusively through dialogue with little action actually taking place.
Major themes
This novel has been compared to S. E. HintonS. E. Hinton
Susan Eloise Hinton is an American author best known for her young adult novel The Outsiders.While still in her teens, Hinton became a household name as the author of The Outsiders, her first and most popular novel, set in Oklahoma in the 1960s. She began writing it in 1965...
's earlier works, both featuring streetwise orphans who seek understanding of the world through contemporary sources such as films, music and art.
Characters
- Ty'ree - The eldest brother and legal guardian of the younger two siblings. Although Ty'ree is a strong and responsible man, he is also bitter because his mothers death has forced him to take on a series of jobs rather than attend college, which he had been preparing to do when she died. He is also dealing with issues stemming from witnessing the drowning death of his father when Lafayette was not yet born.
- Charlie - Anger is the overwhelming characteristic of the middle brother. He is fifteen and has already served time for armed robbery. If he gets into trouble again social services will take both him and his younger brother away from Ty'ree, making them wards of the state. Upon his return home he is welcomed back by his old friends, and they expect him to act as he did before he left. Charlie is torn between his families need for him to become a responsible brother to them and his friends pressure to become one with the street.
- Lafayette - 'Laf' feels that he is responsible for his mothers death because he was the one who found her in a diabetic coma and could do nothing to save her. He has withdrawn into himself, building a shell around himself to keep from getting close to anyone again.
Development history
Woodson wrote this novel in two locations, Whidbey IslandWhidbey Island
Whidbey Island is one of nine islands located in Island County, Washington, in the United States. Whidbey is located about north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington...
off the coast of Seattle, Washington and in Olivebridge, NY. Her goal in writing the book was to create a work with no female characters and to explore what it's like to grow up poor. "I also wanted to write about how hard it is to lose someone you love—in this case, both parents—and how that pain starts shaping itself into other things sometimes like anger and isolation."
Publication history
- 2000, USA, PutnamG. P. Putnam's SonsG. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...
, ISBN 0-399-23113-7, April 2000, Hardcover. - 2001, Audio Recording read by Dule HillDulé HillKarim Dulé Hill is an American actor and tap dancer. He is best known for his roles as personal presidential aide Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series The West Wing, and as pharmaceutical salesman-private detective Burton "Gus" Guster on the USA Network television comedy-drama Psych...
. Listening Library, ISBN 0-8072-0525-7.2 cassettes. 2:27 hrs.
Awards and nominations
- Coretta Scott King Honor
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize
- ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Adaptations
A six part miniseriesMiracle's Boys
Miracle's Boys is a six part miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Jacqueline Woodson, shown on The N in February 2005. The series was directed by Neema Barnette, LeVar Burton, Ernest R. Dickerson, Bill Duke, and Spike Lee and was filmed on-site in Harlem, New York...
based on the novel was released in February 2005.
In 2001 the book was released as an audiobook. Actor Dule Hill
Dulé Hill
Karim Dulé Hill is an American actor and tap dancer. He is best known for his roles as personal presidential aide Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series The West Wing, and as pharmaceutical salesman-private detective Burton "Gus" Guster on the USA Network television comedy-drama Psych...
, was given positive reviews for his narration due to his use of staccato, halting vocalizations which underlined the uncertainty of the characters. The abrupt delivery is then contrasted to his softer voice when speaking the memories of the boy's mother. "Hill's narrative style lends a necessary strength to this gritty story of survival in the face of enormous odds." Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
's review also called Hill's performance 'powerful' and commends him for his delivery, which adds resonance to Woodson's message of love and hope.