Flyy Girl

October 2, 1996
This unremarkable African American coming-of-age story, originally published by a small press in 1993 (as was Tyree's first novel, Capital City), tracks Tracy Ellison from her sixth birthday party in 1977 to her 17th birthday. Tracy grows up in the middle-class Philadelphia suburb of Germantown. The daughter of a pharmacist and a dietitian, she is pretty and intelligent, armed with solid self-esteem and a sassy mouth. Like most of her friends, she's also boy crazy, and readers watch as her physical maturation leads to increasing sexual activity. While experiencing the indulgent, hip-hop 1980s and the insidious effects of the cocaine economy that flourishes in black communities, Tracy must also come to terms with her parents' separation. Tyree captures black language as it is spoken among peers; like Terry Macmillan he uses scatological references without restraint. The conversation of youngsters caught in a highly pressured sexual atmosphere, test-driving their sexuality long before they're old enough for a license, is profane and vivid. The narrative flow is often disrupted by too many italics and slang-defining asides, and by a rocky imbalance between neutral narration and vernacular. The real problem here is a crucial lack of depth; even when Tracy's teenage chatter gives way to some soul-searching questions, the queries themselves and the answers to them are trite and superficial. Author tour.

September 15, 1996
The dialog in this coming-of-age African American story by Tyree, who self-published two books before getting his big break, is some of the best this reviewer has read in a long time. Tyree has a way making each phrase of every conversation true to life, whether spoken by a child or an adult. The story begins at Tracy Ellison's sixth birthday party. We follow her through her parent's shaky marriage to grade school and high school. Although the story does not venture much beyond Tracey's boy-chasing escapades and an occasional side plot about her next-door-neighbor, Raheema, the book is an entertaining diversion. Tyree writes so well that readers will put up with Tracey, who is selfish and often unkind. The author captures growing up in the Eighties with a subtle and finely rendered backdrop of songs and mischief reminiscent of the era. This should be enough to keep folks reading to the mildly rushed ending while hoping that the nasty little "flyy girl," Tracy, learns a few lessons along the way. Recommended for large collections.--Shirley Gibson Coleman, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., Mich.