Tyrell plays a Dirty Game

Tyrell – where to start? I didn’t think I would like this book – it’s pretty far out of my own experience. As a matter of fact, when I first started it, I got angry at this mother for not caring for her family enough to give them shelter. I was being judgmental, but it turns out she really was not doing her job – that really made me angry as the story continued. But as my anger at Tyrell’s mother grew, so did my affection for Tyrell. In fact, I felt like I could walk right into his neighborhood and fit right in, although I’m certain that’s not the case. With Tyrell hanging by a thread to his “home”, girlfriend, and future, I kept waiting for that thread to snap. Would he get another meal?, would his girlfriend get mad?, would he end up in jail?  I thought that the language would be difficult for me, but once I got reading it was fine.  Dirty Game, on the other hand, is very difficult to read.  The style changes from dialect to my own way of speaking – and every time there is a switch to conversation or description, I have to reframe my sense of the story.  Tyrell’s a keeper, but not Dirty Game.  In general, I would like to have street lit in my library.  The students would enjoy it, even if, like me, they have no experience in that culture.