Customer Reviews

Flyy Girl

5 star:		(227)
4 star:		(61)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(29)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

Flyy Girl engulfed me. Omar's account of the eighties was so thorough and in depth...the loose language, the flashy clothes, the `I'm better than you' attitude, was vivid and consistent. Tracy Ellison, the main character of Flyy Girl, is a year younger than me. So reading Flyy Girl took me back to my own youth, when I wore Coca Cola sweatshirts, Guess jeans, and so much gold that it would blind you. Subliminally, I went back to the `80s dances and parties. It was so refreshing to read.

What struck me most was the accuracy of the growing pains that the young female characters in Flyy Girl encountered. The profound peer pressure, the dubious dating game, and the ferocious family matters, were so in depth. Since Omar is a male writing about the internal feelings and thinking of growing girls, I was very impressed with the authenticity of Tracy and Raheema's feelings, confidence level, maturation level, and perspectives on issues. I also enjoyed Raheema's subplot....Tracy's lavish, spoiled, perfect life is one realm of female adolescence, then Raheema's overbearing, protected, and acrid environment is another aspect, yet the intermingling of such different upbringings made the story extremely real and alive to me. Plus the flagrant differences in their personalities enriched the dilemas in the novel. Lastly, I was impressed with the degree of growth that all the characters in the novel underwent. Tracy and her parents matured...Raheema and her family matured as well.

I'm just glad that I didn't have to wait for the sequel. It's out now, I've got it, and I'm reading it next. If you want a refreshing and real story, read Flyy Girl. This book is even good for some teenagers. Good job Omar.

I read "Do Right Man" and I really did not like it, so when my bookclub chose this one I was not excited about reading it. I have to admit that it caught my attention. About 10 years ago I could relate to this book on my level, but now that I have children, I see where Tracy's mother went wrong. Omar was on the money with the music, trends and fashions for the 80's! However, from the beginning Tracy had too much attitude and freedom. Unfortunately she was a product of a single parent family and that tends to cause more problems in itself. The book kept my attention and I routed for Tracy to see some the character for what they were worth. She finally caught on when she saw the demise of her friend, Mercedes. Sometimes it takes a shock to get us on the right track. Anyway, this was a decent book and Omar Tyree did a good job writing this book from a young girls perspective. It is not easy for a man to see things through the eyes of a young adolescent female. Hats off to you Mr. Tyree.

Flyy Girl, Omar Tyree's debut novel was a very entertaining, eye opening and enlightening read. Tyree provided an in-depth view about the realistic situations that young girls encounter in the streets of Urban America. Tyree did a good job of speaking from a female perspective especially that of a young female. I enjoyed reading about Tracy's escapades, RaRas vulnerability, and Jantel's dedication. I felt like I was back in the day...only it was doing the 70s. Even then, teenage girls were interested in dating, flyy clothes, and guys with money and bad rides. Although I must say that Tracy and her friends took it to a different level...a more gritty, street smart and immoral level. (As such, It leaves me to wonder what I will be store for in 2010 when my daughter comes of age and begins to date). While I didn't like the boyfriend flavor of the week theme, because it became a little redundant after the third boyfriend, I did enjoy watching Tracy mature with time and realize that there was more to life than being flyy. I saw Tracy as a spoiled youngster exploit into the teen years with much attitude, a vain personality, a materialistic girl, and sexual desires to boot. But then I also saw Tracy experience an awakening and as a result the love for self. While Flyy Girl was primarily Tracy's story there were secondary characters who were essential to the story along with their sub-plots. I enjoyed reading about Tracy's parents although I was disappointed in the actions of her father toward his family and to some extend the things that Tracy's mother allowed Tracy to get away with(ie expensive gifts from boys and no questions asked. However, given that the parents had their own set of issues I also understood their imperfections and realized that even as a parent I too will make mistakes. Flyy Girl provides insight regarding the issues that young teens face as they try to live in the fast lane and world of easy money; provides a good explanation of how young women think and how young boys act; and has a message that's worth hearing. I believe that every mom should purchase this book to share with her daughter when she becomes of age.

I thought this book was terrible, with nothing redeeming about it. First, there wasn't a single scene that was not preceded by a long description of everything the character was wearing (and by whom it was designed), from outfit to shoes to handbags to jewelry. And the book encompassed many, many scenes and many, many characters. Excrutiating. Second, the characters -- and their dialogue -- were so simplistic as to be insulting, and all of their (serious) problems were solved with less reflection than than a Brady Bunch episode. Finally, the main character was so shallow, so annoying, that she was hardly worth the 412 pages I had to endure to finish the book (and if I hadn't been stuck on an airplane, I wouldn't have). Stick to Trey Ellis or Bebe Campbell Moore and any of the many gifted writers out there, and spare yourself the torture.

I hate to say it, since Mr. Tyree seems to have so many fans, but FLYY GIRL is the worst book I've read in the last few years.

This humorless and overtly sexual "novel" basically tells the story of a young chickenhead's (Tracy) coming of age in wasteland of several hundred pages.

The novel reads like a 10th grade creative writing assignment gone haywire and in the end the reader is left with a 400+ novel that could have been told in 20 double spaced pages effortlessly. The somewhat promising premise about the journey to self-respect is lost in the long winded and often muddled dialogue of the book.

Tyree wastes pages of painfully simple dialogue on subplots and scenes that go nowhere. This book lacks the natural flow of urban language that other writers (namely Morrison, Hurston, McMillian, George) do so well.

His character development isn't much better since the characters are all one dimensional and don't seem to stray far from the one sentence notes about them that Tyree MUST have scribbled down the day he wrote this one.

Tyree lacks the finesse to build an atmosphere for his scenes and it's obvious that he has no clue as to how to give the reader a mental picture of someone without going into overdrive about their physical appearance. Almost every character is haphazardly introduced with a description of height, hair texture and skin color.

The main character is, in a word, STUPID. How someone as shallow as she was can go from chickenhead to Afrocentric queen in a few short chapters is beyond reason. The lack of consequence for the life of promiscuity Tracey leads is irresponsible and unrealistic.

The majority of the book takes place during Tracey's 14th year of life. Those chapters drag on for so long that I felt as if I were living everyday with her (think dayplanner, not diary.) Other flat characters in the book also seem to reach their own epiphanies just in time to move the story along.

Male characters get the roughest treatment in FLYY GIRL since Tyree seems to equate black teenage masculinity with would be rapist/pariahs with no depth of emotion of feelings aside from the basest impulses.

I bought this book thinking it might be a nice beach read and had to struggle to finish it for lack of interest. I'm embarrassed to even have this on my bookshelf.

I read this book in one day. I'm still telling people to read it and I read it a year ago. Me, being a 17 year old could truly relate to Tracy and Raheema. The book was so good, I passed it around my high school so more than just one girl could get a dose of reality, and a couple of guys read it too. Just about everyone read it in a couple of hours.

Thank you soo much Mr. Tyree. Finally someone who writes about youth without putting us down, but understanding where we come from.

To every one who had negative reviews about this book,(put in the words of a typical teenager) you just don't understand and you probably never will. That's the problem with adults these days. Stop being afraid to face reality, because it's out there, and sooner or later, your child is going to run straight smack into it. You just better hope they are able to handle the pressures. You're the best Omar, I hope you come with more just like Tracy and Raheema, there both girls I could find myself being cool with. Keep up the good work My Brotha, and adults, think back to when you were in highschool and maybe you'll remember how hard it is to become your own person with parents breathing down your back.

It took me a week to get through this book, anyone who knows me knows that that is too long. I was a teenager back in the day and I do remember some stories like Tracy's. But Tracy's attitude and mannerisms sounded like she was more from the slums than the middle class background the author depicted in the beginning. Everyone's parents was either weak or missing. The plot goes into all of the games Tracy has played, then after seeing her friends sister becoming a drug addict she decides to take a turn. Only after her mother decides to kick her behind and threaten to throw her out in the streets. (Hey, she won't be able to get some money for clothes shopping! I gotta change)! Then, all of a sudden Tracy goes to college (which was somewhat believable since she "somehow" did well in school while being miss "fly", yet still she is trying to play the game by staying true to Victor, who was the one who "turned her out" first. I mean please! No one I knew in the 80's was this stupid. Apparently from reading other reviews, this kind of thing is "real". What I find in those statements is that it is also frightening that children are left to raise themselves.

Another thing is that Mr. Tyree is not the best writer. He can put a story together but it wasn't until the middle of the book that I even cared about any of these characters. To be honest, I didn't even care about the main characer Tracy, I cared about knowing what happend to Mercedes and Raheema. Tracy was just to stupid, selfish and self centered for me. I don't feel that she has learned her lesson. Now Winter in Sister Souljah's "COLDEST WINTER EVER", she had more hard lessons. Read that book instead and then we can discuss it.

Hopefully the sequel will be better.

I was hoping for a window into middle class/urban African American life that would artfully describe the desires, fears, and choices that are part of this adolescent experience. Instead, Flyy Girl is jammed pack with flat characters, stilted dialogue, name brand fashion descriptions, and bland sex. While trying to be hip, the cookie cutter plot is really a bourgeois morality tale. I have to contrast Flyy Girl with other poignant and effective novels about growing up and it comes up short. I wish there were more works out there that would challenge stereotypes about African American adolescents, instead of confirming them. That being said, Flyy Girl has clearly been popular with younger readers. I just wish it was better; it seems like a missed opportunity.

I think the book Flyy Girl was great. I'm 14 years old and as growin' up as a teen, I feel this book was bomb. I don't think many parents would appreciate this book as much as teens my age or until about the age 18. I read this book and couldn't put it down. I could relate to the book, not because I did the things Tracy did (and y'all know what I mean), but simply because I could relate with the struggles Tracy, along with her friends, dealt with while growing up. I read the previous reviews and I realized many of the parents that read the book Flyy Girl didn't enjoy it as much. I mainly feel they felt that way because they're not teens anymore or they just couldn't reminise like other parents or teens at this age can. But the reviews that came from teens who had read the book was sayin' how much the book was BANGIN! And I was sho'nuff agreein' with them. But all the parents who read the other books written by Omar Tyree, such as "A Do Right Man" and "Single Mom", loved the book and wrote about how much THEY could relate to the book. Then the teens who the read those books wrote about how Tyree didn't do such a good job on the novel. So people (or parents in general), STOP HATIN'!. Just 'cause y'all can't relate to the book doesn't mean the book wasn't good. And teens, if y'all would agree with me, Mista Tyree needs to make some more "teen related" books. "Flyy Girl" has become my favorie book and I've read it more than once. It was great to read a book I could relate to. Although I couldn't relate to the other books written by Tyree (like "A Do Right Man" and "Single Mom" along with "Sweet St. Louis) doesn't mean they weren't good. When peeps ask me how the books listed above were, I don't say they weren't good, I just tell 'em that they won't enjoy it as much because there's no relation with the book and you. But I know as I get older and mature, I will be able to relate to the book just as much as the other parents at this age could relate to it.

Why do other reviewers insist that this is a book that every young girl should read?

As a teacher, I'm doing some summer reading in order to prepare next year's curriculum for my high school urban literature and hip hop course. Sadly, this book will not make the cut. First, the dialogue was unbelievably simple, uninspired, and predictable. The plot was mostly an exploration into some fast girl's "kiddy porn" fantasy with Tracy having no "real" consequences for her random and uninhibited sexual endeavors (i.e. disease, pregnancy, jail time). I don't find that the book has any teachable themes to use for an intellectual discussion with my students. The entire course of the novel is repetitive, with page after page following Tracy as she attempts to seduce and mount the next attractive older boy in her neighborhood for money and gifts. Overall, the text will not keep the average intelligent mind satiated, and thus this is not a novel that I would recommend for any age level of reasonable maturity.

Even the turnaround that Tracy makes at the end isn't enough to redeem her character and unsuitable actions that permeated the first 400 pages. Only in the last 50 -75 pages does she learn a lesson on self-worth and begin to discover herself, and is it for this reason that we should send all of our daughters to the bookstore with cash in hand? Are we supposed to be moved by her sudden realization that she loved Victor, the drug dealer all along, and is willing to wait for his prison release so that they can get married? We can surely do better as teachers and parents then to encourage our little girls to "relate" to this coming of age tragedy where the main character still can't cut her ties with the poor influences in her life.

Finally, I was incredibly put off by the constant describing of individuals by their hair textures, eye colors, and skin pigmentation. So let me understand this correctly, Tracy's ordinary "hazel" eyes were somehow magically endowed, so that she could lead any man to do her bidding or force them to turn away for fear of being entrenched by her stare? Give me a break. This is actually why so many of our young sisters grow up and put weaves and fake contacts on to make themselves appear more attractive. Apparently, it worked for Tracy and other characters in the novel that had "pretty eyes," "long hair," and "good skin."

As an urban lit and hip hop teacher, I know that I'm far from uptight and my senses are rarely offended by grimy and gritty tales of the hood. However, to call this narrative a classic is to insult other black authors, who have done a much better job of sharing relatable stories of far more redeeming characters that can get even the most reluctant readers excited. I'm sorry for the individuals for whom this was their first novel; as I hope that they have since moved on to discover more engaging and sophisticated pieces of black fiction.

Unfortunately, this is the second book of Omar Tyree's that I've read--Just Say No being the first, which was also severely disappointing. I doubt I will ever pick up his work again, which is a shame because I want to support all black authors in the struggle.