Bad Boy

July 9, 2001
Myers provides a sincere, friendly and unscripted introduction to this chronicle of his life, quickly engaging listeners. But Myers's vocal presence is too short-lived. Though Morton enthusiastically takes the baton and gives a competent reading, he can't match the obvious tone of familiarity the author has for his subject; the actor remains one step removed from the heartfelt revelations and introspective nature of the text. Myers's fans will likely overlook this shortcoming, happy to hear more about his childhood in 1940s and '50s Harlem. Myers describes his "coming up" as a series of scrapes and fights with neighborhood kids, teachers and gang toughs that earned him the bad boy title. A gifted student with advanced reading skills and a speech impediment, Myers early on turned to literature (and comic books) as an enlightening and stabilizing force in his life. He often found it difficult to adhere to the structure and discipline of the public school system and was continuously noted for poor conduct. His speech troubles encouraged teasing, making matters worse. By high school he rarely showed up for class, though kept on reading great books recommended by teachers and never gave up his aspirations to write. In the end, this warts-and-all story of a dream realized makes for an entertaining listen. Ages 12-up. (May)FYI:Simultaneously released with the HarperCollins hardcover.

November 1, 2001
Gr 9 Up-This recording of Walter Dean Myers' autobiography (HarperCollins, 2001) will engage those familiar with his fiction as well as those who have not read Motown and Didi (Viking, 1984), Fallen Angels (Scholastic, 1988), the Printz-winning Monster (HarperCollins, 2001), or any of his other children's and young adult literature. Actor Joe Morton reads smoothly and with subtle inflections that augment passages producing shared laughter or horror with the storyteller's view of events. Bad Boy recounts Myers' roots; his unofficial but permanent adoption as a toddler; how his mother planted and nurtured his life-long love of reading; the academic trials and victories he met in his Harlem grade school and accelerated junior high years; and the deleterious combination of speech impediment, depression, racism and alienation he experienced through his high school career. Eventually, he left school, without a diploma, to serve a stint in the army, followed by a decade of manual labor, before rediscovering his writer's voice and strengths. In addition to providing a chronology of Myers' personal growth and offering insights on the times, his autobiography is rich with references to the many books he found through teachers, librarians, and his own browsings. His introductions to such works as Camus' The Stranger are presented in a manner sure to entice teens to borrow from the Myers canon. With a bit of music to announce the beginning and end of each cassette's side, the production quality is befitting of this major new literary work.- Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2001
Myers paints a fascinating picture of his childhood growing up in Harlem in the 1940s, with an adult's benefit of hindsight. His previous 145th Street: Short Stories conveys a more vivid sense of day-to-day life on Harlem's streets, and readers learn little here of the effects of global events (such as WWII). What they will come away with is a sense of how a gifted young man, both intellectually and athletically, feels trapped in his own mind as he tries to find a place for himself in the world. Some insightful teachers make a huge difference in his life: a fifth-grade teacher who avails Walter of her classroom library; his sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Lasher, who recognizes the boy's leadership qualities; and a high school English teacher who spots him outside the guidance counselor's office and says, "Whatever happens, don't stop writing." Perhaps the most poignant and carefully crafted chapter involves the 16-year-old's thought process in response to his guidance counselor's question, "Do you like being black?" Throughout the volume, Myers candidly examines the complexities of being black in America, from his first exposure to slavery in a seventh grade American history class, to the painful realization in adolescence that his blond, blue-eyed best friend is invited to parties where Walter is not welcome. Other chapters sometimes feel haphazard (a foreshadowing of Walter's discovery that his father is illiterate, for example, undercuts a powerful later scene that explores this more fully). What emerges is a clear sense of how one young man's gifts separate him from his peers, causing him to stir up trouble in order to belong. Fortunately, this bad boy turned out to be a fine writer. Ages 12-up.

May 1, 2001
Gr. 7-12. "I didn't want to be defiant. I wanted to be in the system that I was walking away from, but I didn't know how to get in." Many teens will see themselves in Myers' account of his troubled coming-of-age, especially since he offers no pat solutions. He doesn't analyze or laugh at his youth from an adult perspective, and he doesn't overdramatize his childhood self. He remembers how he felt: detached, hurt, lonely, ashamed, a failure. He loved his Harlem neighborhood, but it was hard being black and poor and a reader, especially since moving into a world of books isolated him from those around him. He was big and physically aggressive, quick to get angry and punch kids who laughed at his speech defect. He was always in trouble at school and often truant. In fact, he dropped out of high school, read and wrote alone, and narrowly escaped jail. The narrative is sometimes rambling and repetitive, and sometimes abstract: for example, Myers just touches on his searing discovery that his stepfather couldn't read. The most beautiful writing is about Mama: how she taught him to read, sharing " True Romance" magazines. He still feels ashamed about how he hurt her: "Later when I had learned to use words better, I lost my ability to speak so freely with Mama." The aching truth is that although books saved him and helped him become a famous writer, they moved him away from the adoptive parents he loved.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)

Starred review from May 6, 2002
"Myers paints a fascinating picture of his childhood growing up in Harlem in the 1940s, with an adult's benefit of hindsight," wrote PW. "What emerges is a clear sense of how one young man's gifts separate him from his peers, causing him to stir up trouble in order to belong." Ages 13-up.

July 1, 2001
While the facts might make Myers's life seem a tale of hoodlum-turned-writer, the more pertinent truth evidenced here is that the writer was there all along--and the hoodlum's fists only struck out to protect him. The memoir is diffuse and confused by digressions, but many of the individual scenes have power, and the author's voice and heart are consistently heard and felt throughout.

(Copyright 2001 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2001
Gr 7 Up-This superb memoir begins simply with an account of Myers's family history and his boyhood. Vivid detail makes the Harlem of the 40s come alive, from the music and children's games to the everyday struggle for survival. As Myers grows older, however, his story also grows in complexity. Soon readers are caught up in his turbulent adolescence and his slow, painful development as a writer. Even while performing poorly in school, the teen endlessly devoured great works of literature, often in secret. He also wrote, sometimes quitting out of discouragement but always beginning again. Eventually he attended school less and less often, sometimes fighting roaming gang members or delivering "packages" for drug dealers. After dropping out of high school, he enlisted in the army. Sadness and bewilderment infuse these last chapters as Myers faces a bleak future. Intellectually, he's left his family and friends far behind, but his race and circumstances seem to give him few choices. After years of menial jobs, Myers remembered a teacher's advice-"Whatever you do, don't stop writing"-and in time his persistence paid off. This memoir is never preachy; instead, it is a story full of funny anecdotes, lofty ideals, and tender moments. The author's growing awareness of racism and of his own identity as a black man make up one of the most interesting threads. Young writers will find inspiration here, while others may read the book as a straightforward account of a colorful, unforgettable childhood.-Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.