For Lafayette and his brothers, the challenges of growing up in New York City are compounded by the facts that they've lost their parents and it's up to eldest brother Ty'ree to support the boys, and middle brother Charlie has just returned home from a correctional facility.
Lafayette loves his brothers and would do anything if they could face the world as a team. But even though Ty'ree cares, he's just so busy with work and responsibility. And Charlie's changed so much that his former affection for his little brother has turned to open hostility.
Now, as Lafayette approaches 13, he needs the guidance and answers only his brothers can give him. The events of one dramatic weekend force the boys to make the choice to be there for each other--to really see each other--or to give in to the pain and problems of every day.
Jacqueline Woodson's most recent book for Putnam was praised by School Library Journal: "This fine author once again shows her gift for penning a novel that will ring true with young adults."
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"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.
Jacqueline Woodson writes with a sure hand and true understanding of the complexity and depth of young people's lives. Winner of many awards for her novels, including two Coretta Scott King Honors (for From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun and I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This), she tells a captivating, honest story. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter
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