Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson

Woodson, J.  (2000).  Miracle's Boys.  New York:  G.P. Putnam's Sons.  131 pages, $15.99

Ty'ree, Charlie, and Lafayette are three brothers who need each other.  They lost both of their parents, and if things go wrong, they will be separated.  Will they find the love and strength within each other to do what they need to do so that they can stay together?

Miracle's Boys is about three brothers:  Ty'ree, Charlie, and Lafayette.  Lafayette wishes things with his family were the way they used to be:  Mama alive and watching them, making sure they as a family have everything they need; Ty'ree going to college and not having to worry about making ends meet and keeping the family together; and Charlie back to his normal self and not being so mean and rude all the time.  Even though his daddy died before he was born, Mama and his brothers were happy and helped each other, but since Mama died nothing is the same.  Ty'ree is always tired from work and worrying about keeping the three of them together and having enough money to pay the bills and maybe something a little extra sometimes.  Charlie is back from juvenile hall, and since his return he is always mean, rude, and disrespectful.  Lafayette does everything he can to stay out of trouble and not be a burden to Ty'ree.  He wants to stay with his brothers, but he wants things to be the way they were.  He misses Mama, and only has one picture of her because Charlie burned all the others.  It seems as though the three boys always seem to have something that burdens them when all they're trying to do is stay together.  This is especially true when Charlie gets arrested again, which really worries Ty'ree and Lafayette.  When they go to the police station to see Charlie, he tell his brothers that he had no idea that Aaron, his (supposed) friend, was going to be initiated into a gang.  Charlie didn't want to have any part in it, but was there and was beat up by one of the members of the gang.  He now knows that what Ty'ree would tell him about Aaron was true:  that he was no good to be around.  The brothers walk home after the police officer warned them to stay out of trouble.  Lafayette, while looking at the picture of Mama, remembers that in his had he was holding a promise to her and was about to give it to her.  He was going to promise her not to fight with Charlie.  How could he have forgotten that?  Lafayette makes an effort to talk to Charlie and try to get things back like they used to be...not fighing all the time like they did but also not being rude and disrespectful to each other.  He feels that he needs to keep his promise to Mama, not just because he was going to promise her but because he doesn't want him and his brothers to be separated.  That is definitely something Mama would not have wanted.

While I was reading, I kept expecting Charlie to get arrested again and sent back to juvenile hall, but I'm so glad that the officer made him understand the severity of what he did and let him off with a warning.  I'm glad that the brothers got to stay together, and I think that they'll be fine.  I think Charlie realized just how important it is to have his family with him and that he needs them just as much as they need him.  I really enjoyed the book.  It brought me close to tears.  The title refers to the boys' Mama.  Her name was Milagros, which means miracles in Spanish, so the title refers to Milagros' (Miracle's) boys.  This is their story of how they come to realize that they need each other.

This book won the Coretta Scott King Award.  To learn more about Jacqueline Woodson, visit her website at http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/.  Other books by Jacqueline Woodson are I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This (the prequel to Lena), The House You Pass on the Way, and The Dear One.