Walter Dean Myers Books In Order

Arrow Adventures Books In Order

  1. Adventure in Granada (1985)
  2. The Hidden Shrine (1985)
  3. Ambush in the Amazon (1986)
  4. Duel in the Desert (1986)

18 Pine St Books In Order

  1. The Test (1992)
  2. Taking Sides (1994)
  3. The Party (1992)
  4. Sort of Sisters (1992)
  5. The Prince (1992)
  6. Sky Man (1993)
  7. Fashion By Tasha (1993)
  8. Intensive Care (1993)
  9. Dangerous Games (1993)
  10. Cindy’s Baby (1993)
  11. Kwame’s Girl (1994)
  12. Diary (1994)

Cruisers Books In Order

  1. The Cruisers (2010)
  2. Checkmate (2011)
  3. A Star Is Born (2012)
  4. Oh, Snap! (2013)

Novels

  1. The Dancers (1972)
  2. Fly, Jimmy, Fly! (1974)
  3. Brainstorm (1977)
  4. Mojo and the Russians (1977)
  5. Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff (1978)
  6. It Ain’t All for Nothin’ (1978)
  7. The Black Pearl and the Ghost (1980)
  8. Hoops (1981)
  9. The Legend of Tarik (1981)
  10. Won’t Know Till I Get There (1982)
  11. The Nicholas Factor (1983)
  12. Tales of a Dead King (1983)
  13. The Young Landlords (1984)
  14. The Outside Shot (1984)
  15. Motown and Didi (1984)
  16. Sweet Illusions (1986)
  17. Crystal (1987)
  18. The Fallen Angels (1988)
  19. Scorpions (1988)
  20. Me, Mop & Moondance (1988)
  21. The Mouse Rap (1990)
  22. Somewhere in the Darkness (1992)
  23. Mop, Moondance, and the Nagasaki Knights (1992)
  24. The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner (1992)
  25. Darnell Rock Reporting (1994)
  26. The Glory Field (1994)
  27. Shadow of the Red Moon (1995)
  28. Slam! (1996)
  29. Monster (1999)
  30. The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins (1999)
  31. Journal of Biddy Owens (2001)
  32. Three Swords for Granada (2002)
  33. Handbook for Boys (2002)
  34. Fighter (2003)
  35. Dream Bearer (2003)
  36. The Beast (2003)
  37. Shooter (2004)
  38. Autobiography of My Dead Brother (2005)
  39. Street Love (2006)
  40. Harlem Summer (2007)
  41. Game (2008)
  42. Sunrise Over Fallujah (2008)
  43. Dope Sick (2009)
  44. Riot (2009)
  45. Lockdown (2010)
  46. Kick (2011)
  47. Carmen (2011)
  48. All the Right Stuff (2012)
  49. Darius & Twig (2013)
  50. Invasion (2013)
  51. On a Clear Day (2014)
  52. Juba! (2015)

Collections

  1. Smiffy Blue Ace Crime Detective (1996)
  2. 145th Street (2000)
  3. One Hundred Forty-Fifth Street Stories (2001)
  4. A Time to Love (2003)
  5. What They Found (2007)

Plays

  1. Tags (2013)

Picture Books

  1. The Golden Serpent (1980)
  2. Mr. Monkey and the Gotcha Bird (1984)
  3. The Dragon Takes a Wife (1995)
  4. How Mr Monkey Saw the Whole World (1996)
  5. The Great Migration (1999)
  6. Jazz (2006)
  7. Looking Like Me (2009)
  8. Looking for the Easy Life (2011)
  9. Frederick Douglass (2017)

Graphic Novels

  1. Monster: A Graphic Novel (2015)

Novellas

  1. Pirate (2011)

Non fiction

  1. The World of Work (1975)
  2. Social Welfare (1976)
  3. Now Is Your Time! (1991)
  4. A Place Called Heartbreak (1992)
  5. Young Martin’s Promise (1992)
  6. Malcolm X (1993)
  7. One More River to Cross (1995)
  8. Toussaint L’ouverture (1996)
  9. The Greatest (1997)
  10. Amistad (1998)
  11. Angel to Angel (1998)
  12. At Her Majesty’s Request (1999)
  13. The Blues of Flats Brown (2000)
  14. Bad Boy (2001)
  15. Patrol (2002)
  16. Blues Journey (2003)
  17. I’ve Seen the Promised Land (2003)
  18. USS Constellation (2004)
  19. Antarctica (2004)
  20. The Harlem Hellfighters (2005)
  21. We Are America (2008)
  22. Ida B. Wells (2008)
  23. Muhammad Ali: The People’s Champion (2009)
  24. Just Write: Here’s How (2012)
  25. An African Princess (2014)

Arrow Adventures Book Covers

18 Pine St Book Covers

Cruisers Book Covers

Novels Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Plays Book Covers

Picture Books Book Covers

Graphic Novels Book Covers

Novellas Book Covers

Non fiction Book Covers

Walter Dean Myers Books Overview

Ambush in the Amazon

While camping in the Amazon, Chris and his brother Ken try to save a tribal village from the attacks of what appears to be a reincarnated swamp monster.

The Cruisers

Zander Scott and his friends Kambui, LaShonda, and Bobbi are in trouble. Even though they’re students at DaVinci Academy for the Gifted and Talented in Harlem, their grades are slipping, and Mr. Culpepper, the assistant principal and chief executioner, is ready to be rid of them. When the school starts a unit on the Civil War, and kids split up into Union and Confederate sympathizers, Zander and his crew are given a charge – to negotiate a peace between both sides before the war actually breaks out. That’s when Zander comes up with the idea to launch an alternative school newspaper called The Cruiser. What he and his friends learn is that their writing has power to keep the peace, but that words can be weapons, too. Soon everyone at DaVinci is forced to consider the true meaning of democracy and what it costs to stand up for a cause. The result is nothing they could have expected – and everything they could have hoped for. Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers delivers the first book in a series that will have boys and girls cheering for a group of outsiders who just may be the coolest kids in town.

Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff

Francis soon to be nicknamed Stuff doesn t know anyone when he first moves to 116th Street in Harlem. But all that changes when he meets Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Gloria. Stuff and the gang grow close that eventful year, and nothing is ever quite the same. It’s the year modern science gets them all in jail, Stuff falls in love and is unfaithful, and Cool Clyde and Fast Sam win the dance contest almost. In this lively and funny book, Walter Dean Myers brings to life with tenderness and good humor a group of kids who together grow to know the meaning of friendship.

It Ain’t All for Nothin’

Life in Harlem isn’t easy, but Tippy and his grandmother are doing okay. Then Grandma Carrie gets sick, and Tippy goes to live with Lonnie, his father. Lonnie’s got his own thing going on, and he doesn’t have much room in his life for a son he barely knows unless, that is, Tippy is willing to walk the far side of the fine line between right and wrong. Grandma Carrie always said if he had Jesus in his heart there wasn’t anything to worry about, but sometimes it’s not that simple. When the chips are down, will Tippy be able to call for help and is there anyone out there who will listen?

Hoops

All eyes are on seventeen year old Lonnie Jackson while he practices with his team for a city wide basketball Tournament of Champions. His coach, Cal, knows Lonnie has what it takes to be a pro basketball player, but warns him about giving in to the pressure. Cal knows because he, too, once had the chance but sold out. As the Tournament nears, Lonnie learns that some heavy bettors want Cal to keep him on the bench so that the team will lose the championship. As the last seconds of the game tick away Lonnie and Cal must make a decision. Are they eilling to blow the chance of a lifetime?

Won’t Know Till I Get There

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Fourteen year old Stephen, his new foster brother and his friends are sentenced to help out at an old age home for the summer after Stephen is caught writing graffiti on a train.

The Young Landlords

If you were looking for a real ghetto dump, you couldn’t beat The Stratford Arms. There was Askia Ben Kenobi throwing karate chops upstairs, Petey Darden making booze downstairs, and Mrs. Brown grieving for Jack Johnson, who’d died for the third time in a month-and not a rent payer in the bunch. Still, when Paul Williams and the Action Group got the Arms for one dollar, they thought they had it made. But when their friend Chris was arrested for stealing stereos and Dean’s dog started biting fire hydrants and Gloria started kissing, being a landlord turned out to be a lot more work than being a kid.

The Outside Shot

When Lonnie Jackson leaves Harlem for a basketball scholarship to a midwestern college, he know he must keep his head straight and his record clean. That’s the only way he’ll have a chance of making it to the pros someday. But his street smarts haven’t prepared him for the pressures of tough clas*ses, high stakes college ball, and the temptation to fix games for local gamblers. Everyone plays by a whole new set of rules including Sherry, who’s determined to be a track star. Her independence attracts Lonnie, but their on again, off again relationship is driving him crazy. Lonnie has one year to learn how to make it as a ‘college man.’ It’s his outside shot at a bright future. Does he have what it takes?

Sweet Illusions

A story about teenage pregnancy involving Harry, Jennifer, and twelve other characters, in which the reader can write the conclusion of each chapter.

Crystal

Sixteen year old Crystal knows she’s blessed. She is drop dead gorgeous and in the beginning stages of a glamorous career as a model in New York City. At first, modeling is exciting. But soon, her life becomes less and less about her, and more and more about her body. Crystal wonders if her new life is worth giving up everything her friends, her beliefs, and her self respect.

The Fallen Angels

An exciting, eye catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers’ bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover.A coming of age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, this is the story of Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Sent to the front lines, Perry and his platoon come face to face with the Vietcong and the real horror of warfare. But violence and death aren’t the only hardships. As Perry struggles to find virtue in himself and his comrades, he questions why black troops are given the most dangerous assignments, and why the U.S. is even there at all.

Scorpions

The story of twelve-year-old Jamal, whose life changes drastically when he acquires a gun. Though he survives the experience, it’s not without sacrificing his innocence and possibly his relationship with his best friend.

1989 Newbery Honor Book
Notable Children’s Books of 1988 ALA
1988 Best Books for Young Adults ALA
1989 Recommended Books for Reluctant Young Adult Readers ALA
The USA Through Children’s Books 1990 ALA
Young Adult Choices for 1990 IRA
1989 Judy Lopez Children’s Books Award, Honorable Mention
Children’s Books of 1988 Library of Congress
1989 Books for the Teen Age NY Public Library

Me, Mop & Moondance

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Eleven year old T.J. and his younger brother Moondance have been adopted but remain involved with their friend Mop’s relentless attempts to become adopted herself and wreak revenge on their baseball rivals the obnoxious Eagles.

The Mouse Rap

You can call me Mouse, ’cause that’s my tag I’m into it all, everything’s my bag my ace is Styx, he’ll always do Add Bev and Sheri, and you got my crew…
and a crew it is! For fourteen year old Mouse, this summer is anything but boring. His father, who checked out from the family eight years ago, is now trying to make a comeback as a dad. Beverly, a new girl from California, seems to like locking lips with the Mouse but she seems to like other guys, as well. Sheri is trying to persuade the gang to join a dance contest. And there’s a rumor that a lot of money the loot from a ’30’s bank heist, to be exact is hidden somewhere in an abandoned Harlem building, and you know the Mouse is determined to get a piece of that action.’It’s summer in Harlem, and The Mouse as he calls himself and his friends look beyond dance contests and basketball for diversion. The rumor of a huge cash stash in an abandoned building left by a 1930s gangster offers possibilities…
. Tightly integrated subplots strengthen an already well crafted novel. Myers deftly paints a humor laced picture of Harlem in sparkling prose, with characters that have universal appeal.’ BL. 1991 Best Books for Young Adults ALAChildren’s Choices for 1991 IRA/CBCChildren’s Books of 1990 Library of Congress1991 Books for the Teen Age NY Public LibraryParenting Honorable Mention, Reading Magic Award

Somewhere in the Darkness

An exciting, eye catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers’ bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover. Jimmy hasn’t seen his father in nine years. But one day he comes back on the run from the law. Together, the two of them travel across the country where Jimmy’s dad will find the man who can exonerate him of the crime for which he was convicted. Along the way, Jimmy discovers a lot about his father and himself and that while things can’t always be fixed, sometimes they can be understood and forgiven.

The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner

Wanted: One low lifed, sniveling scoundrel Artemis Bonner wants to set the record straight. He’s just arrived in Tombstone, Arizona, to avenge the murder of his uncle Ugly Ned Bonner. And if he happens to stumble across the gold mine his uncle described on his deathbed, then would be just fine, too. The murderous scalawag Catfish Grimes and his equally odious campaignion Lucy Featherdip are on the loose. They’re desperate to find the gold mine and claim it for themselves as Artemis and his sidekick, Frolic, chase the pair from Mexico to the Alaskan Territory and back again. Artemis and Catfish are headed for a showdown in front of the Bird Cage Saloon…
the exact spot where Uncle Ugly met his Untimely Demise. Here’s the whole story and the Truth as well.

Darnell Rock Reporting

DARNELL ROCK IS not the kind of kid who volunteers to write for the newspaper it sounds too much like homework. But this is Darnell’s last chance to pull himself together and make a positive contribution to his school. At first, Darnell would rather be hanging out with his sister and his friends. But soon he gets interested in the Oakdale Gazette. Much to his surprise, Darnell discovers that people pay attention to the words he writes. Before he knows it, Darnell changes from a kid who can t do anything right to a person who can make a difference.

The Glory Field

An exciting, eye catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers’ bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover.’Those shackles didn’t rob us of being black, son, they robbed us of being human.’This is the story of one family. A family whose history saw its first ancestor captured, shackled, and brought to this country from Africa. A family who can still see remnants of the shackles that held some of its members captive even today. It is a story of pride, determination, struggle, and love. And of the piece of the land that holds them together throughout it all.

Shadow of the Red Moon

If it had been up to Jon, he never would have left Crystal City. But the Fen children had finally broken through the city walls. And the Okalian way would survive only if some of the Okalians survived. So Jon sets out into a strange new world. He’s been told to find the Ancient Land, where Okalian civilization began. But he hasn’t been told of the horrors he will have to face in the cold Wilderness in order to get there. Now he must face the fact that everything he’s been taught might be a lie a lie he must face for everything to survive.

Slam!

An exciting, eye catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers’ bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover. Seventeen year old Greg ‘Slam’ Harris can do it all on the basketball court. He’s seen ballplayers come and go, and he knows he could be one of the lucky ones. Maybe he’ll make it to the top. Or maybe he’ll stumble along the way. Slam’s grades aren’t that hot. And when his teachers jam his troubles in his face, he blows up. Slam never doubted himself on the court until he found himself going one on one with his own future, and he didn’t have the ball.

Monster

Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I’ll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. Monster.

FADE IN: INTERIOR COURT. A guard sits at a desk behind Steve. Kathy O’Brien, Steve’s lawyer, is all business as she talks to Steve.

O’BRIEN
Let me make sure you understand what’s going on. Both you and this king character are on trial for felony murder. Felony Murder is as serious as it gets…
. When you’re in court, you sit there and pay attetion. You let the jury know that you think the case is a serious as they do…
.

STEVE
You think we’re going to win ?

O’BRIEN seriously
It probably depends on what you mean by ‘win.’

Sixteen year old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout.

Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of ‘the system,’ cluttered with cynical authority figures and unscrupulous inmates, who will turn in anyone to shorten their own sentences. For the first time, Steve is forced to think about who he is as he faces prison, where he may spend all the tomorrows of his life.

As a way of coping with the horrific events that entangle him, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, decides to transcribe his trial into a script, just like in the movies. He writes it all down, scene by scene, the story of how his whole life was turned around in an instant. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred and his vision obscured until he can no longer tell who he is or what is the truth. This compelling novel is Walter Dean Myers’s writing at its best.

2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2000 Michael L. Printz Award, 1999 National Book Award Finalist, 01 Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Lit Finalist, 00 01 Tayshas High School Reading List, and 00 01 Black Eyed Susan Award Masterlist

2000 Best Books for Young Adults ALA, Hornbook Fanfare 2000, Michael L. Printz Award 2000, 2000 Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor Book, 2000 Quick Picks for Young Adults Recomm. Books for Reluctant Young Readers, and 2000 Best Books for Young Adults ALA

The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins

A seventeen year old soldier from central Virginia records his experiences in a journal as his regiment takes part in the D Day invasion of Normandy and subsequent battles to liberate France.

Journal of Biddy Owens

Biddy Owens is the batboy for the Birmingham Black Barons, one of the best teams in the Negro Leagues. With a supporting cast of characters that includes some of the greatest players ever, Biddy’s story covers the games, the grueling road trips, racial segregation, and day to day life in Birmingham during this pivotal time in American history.

Three Swords for Granada

In 1420 Spain, three young cat friends join the warrior cats as they struggle to save their beloved Granada from the vicious dogs of the Fidorean Guard.

Handbook for Boys

‘What you need to do,’ Kevin said, ‘is publish a book called Rules for Every Thing.”If I publish a book,’ Duke said, ‘I’m going to call it Handbook for Boys.’Growing up is tough…
really tough. But what if you had a handbook that told you how to figure things out? How to stay out of trouble? How to think about success? How to think about the guy on the street?At Duke’s Place, Jimmy and Kevin find out that the handbook isn’t written down. It means listening to Duke and his friends talk about their lives. But how can Duke, a senior citizen, understand what it is to be young now?In the tradition of his award winning book Monster, Walter Dean Myers once again breaks new ground with this extraordinary, original, and complex novel about learning to be a man.

Dream Bearer

I wonder what kind of dreams Reuben has. When I thought about him dreaming, I thought of him having a storm in his head, with lightning and far off thunder and the wind blowing big raindrops and a bigger storm coming just down the street, just around the corner, like a monster waiting for you. I thought Reuben dreamed of monsters that scared him. They scared me to. David doesn’t know What to make of his father, Reuben. His older brother, Tyrone, says Reuben is crazy. But Tyrone is acting like someone David doesn’t know anymore. Then David meets Mr. Moses, a mysterious man who tells him that dreams might be the only things we have that are real. And it is Mr. Moses’ gift of dreams that gives David a new way to see inside his father’s heart. Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers deftly draws a compassionate portrait of a boy’s odyssey of self discovery and the acceptance and empathy for others he learns along the way.

The Beast

An exciting, eye catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers’ bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover. Seventen year old Anthony ‘Spoon’ Witherspoon is returning to Harlem after seven months at an exclusive prep school. He never wanted to leave the city in the first place especially not to walk the hallowed halls of a mostly white New England school. But now that Spoon is back home, he realizes how much he’s come to rely on his prep school friends and routine. And the one thing he’s looking forward to most seeing his girlfriend, Gabi brings him the greatest shock. When he left, Gabi was a vibrant young poet. Now she’s a thin, wasted drug addict. Can Spoon help her find her way again?

Shooter

Cameron: ‘Deep inside, you know that whoever gets up in your face gets there because he knows you re nothing, and he knows that you know it too.’ Carla: ‘What I m trying to do is to get by not even get over, just get by.’ Leonard: ‘I have bought a gaw juss weapon. It lies beneath my bed like a secret lover, quiet, powerful, waiting to work my magic.’ Statement of Fact: 17 year old white male found dead in the aftermath of a shooting incident at Madison High School in Harrison County. Conclusion: Death by self inflicted wound. Ages 12

Autobiography of My Dead Brother

The thing was that me and Rise were blood brothers, but sometimes I really didn’t know him…
. As Jesse fills his sketchbook with drawings and portraits of Rise, he tries to make sense of the complexities of friendship, loyalty, and loss in a neighborhood plagued by drive bys, vicious gangs, and abusive cops.

Street Love

Your first love is totally wrong for you. Do you follow your heart? Or do you run away? Junice What am I doing? He ll take one quick look And wish he was anywhere else but here I m already ashamed of what I think He will think of me, of the life I lead Damien Yes, she is the fruit that will Sustain me and yes, she brings A rain that I know can chill But it is a rain so sweet and sings A song my soul insists That I follow, if I would exist As more than I have ever, ever been If my mother calls it evil, then I embrace the sin

Harlem Summer

Myers is at his clever best in this witty and action packed, coming of age story of a teenager’s summer during the Harlem Renaissance and his run ins with famous gangsters, writers, and musicians. It’s 1925 and Mark Purvis is a 16 yr old with a summer to kill. He’d rather jam with his jazz band they need the practice, but is urged by his parents to get a job. As an assistant at The Crisis, a magazine for the ‘new Negro,’ Mark rubs shoulders with Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. He’s invited to a party at Alfred Knopf’s place. He’s making money, but not enough, and when piano player Fats Waller entices him and his buddies to make some fast cash, Mark finds himself crossing the gangster Dutch Schultz.

Game

Drew Lawson knows basketball is taking him places. It has to, because his grades certainly aren’t. But lately his plan has run squarely into a pick. Coach’s new offense has made another player a star, and Drew won’t let anyone disrespect his game. Just as his team makes the playoffs, Drew must come up with something big to save his fading college prospects. It’s all up to Drew to find out just how deep his game really is.

Sunrise Over Fallujah

Robin ‘Birdy’ Perry, a new army recruit from Harlem, isn’t quite sure why he joined the army, but he’s sure where he’s headed: Iraq. Birdy and the others in the Civilian Affairs Battalion are supposed to help secure and stabilize the country and successfully interact with the Iraqi people. Officially, the code name for their maneuvers is Operation Iraqi Freedom. But the young men and women in the CA unit have a simpler name for it:

WAR

In this new novel, Walter Dean Myers looks at contemporary war with the same power and searing insight he brought to the Vietnam War in his classic, FALLEN ANGELS. He creates memorable characters, like the book’s narrator, Birdy, a young recruit from Harlem who’s questioning why he even enlisted; Marla, a tough talking, wisecracking gunner; Jonesy, a guitar playing bluesman who just wants to make it back to Georgia and open a club; and a whole unit of other young men and women, and drops them in Iraq, where they are supposed to help secure and stabilize Iraq and successfully interact with the Iraqi people. The young civil affairs soldiers soon find their definition of ‘winning’ ever more elusive and their good intentions being replaced by terms like ‘survival’ and ‘despair.’ Caught in the crossfire, Myers’ richly rendered characters are just beginning to understand the meaning of war in this powerful, realistic novel of our times.

‘Astonishing.’ The New York Times Book Review

‘Unflinching.’ Sunday Denver Post

‘Superb.’ San Francisco Chronicle

‘Unforgettable.’ www. teanreads. com

‘Riveting.’ School Library Journal, starred review

‘Breaks uncharted ground.’ Booklist, starred review

Dope Sick

The itch starts when things get too heavy for Lil J. Skin popping or stealing pain pills from his mom help him relax. But Lil J’s focus is wandering because money is short, and his man Rico knows a way to make some quick cash. It’s supposed to be an easy deal, but it isn’t so simple when the buyer is an undercover cop. With a gunshot wound to the arm, Rico in jail, and a police officer clinging to life, Lil J is starting to get Dope Sick. He’d do anything to change the last twenty four hours, and when he stumbles into an abandoned crack house, it actually might be possible…
. Walter Dean Myers weaves elements of magical realism into a harrowing story about drug use, violence, alternate perceptions of reality, and second chances.

Riot

As the Civil War rages, another battle breaks out behind the lines. During a long hot July in 1863, the worst race riots the United States has ever seen erupt in New York City. Earlier that year, desperate for more Union soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln instituted a draft a draft that would allow the wealthy to escape serving in the army by paying a $300 waiver, more than a year’s income for the recent immigrant Irish. And on July 11, as the first drawing takes place in Lower Manhattan, the city of New York explodes in rage and fire. Stores are looted; buildings, including the Colored Foundling Home, are burned down; and black Americans are attacked, beaten, and murdered. The police cannot hold out against the rioters, and finally, battle hardened soldiers are ordered back from the fields of Gettysburg to put down the insurrection, which they do brutally. Fifteen year old Claire, the beloved daughter of a black father and Irish mother, finds herself torn between the two warring sides. Faced with the breakdown of the city the home she has loved, Claire must discover the strength and resilience to address the new world in which she finds herself, and to begin the hard journey of remaking herself and her identity. Addressing such issues as race, bigotry, and class head on, Walter Dean Myers has written another stirring and exciting novel that will shake up assumptions, and lift the spirit.

Lockdown

When I first got to Progress, it freaked me out to be locked in a room and unable to get out. But after a while, when you got to thinking about it, you knew nobody could get in, either. It seems as if the only progress that’s going on at Progress juvenile facility is moving from juvy jail to real jail. Reese wants out early, but is he supposed to just sit back and let his friend Toon get jumped? Then Reese gets a second chance when he’s picked for the work program at a senior citizens’ home. He doesn’t mean to keep messing up, but it’s not so easy, at Progress or in life. One of the residents, Mr. Hooft, gives him a particularly hard time. If he can convince Mr. Hooft that he’s a decent person, not a criminal, maybe he’ll be able to convince himself. Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers offers an honest story about finding a way to make it without getting lost in the shuffle.

Carmen

Into the summer heat of New York’s Spanish Harlem strides Carmen, a chica who is as hot as the sizzling city streets. When she first meets Jose, she falls for him hard. He’s not like the gansta types she knows-tipo duros who are tough, who think they are players. But Jose has a quick temper, and he likes to get his own way. And nobody gets in Carmen‘s way.

When Escamillo rolls into town, everyone takes notice of the Latino Jay-Z-a quadruple-threat singer/rapper/producer/businessman. But he only notices one person-Carmen. And Carmen has given up on Jose-he’s not going to get her out of her tough neighborhood, el barrio, and into the action. Escamillo will.

But Jose won’t let that happen.

Passion, love, and betrayal explode into tragedy in this modern retelling of an enduring love story.

‘…
this concentrated dose of high drama is full of sharp repartee and would make a lively classroom read-aloud.’ – Publisher’s Weekly

Smiffy Blue Ace Crime Detective

Meet Smiffy Blue, an African American detective with a slapstick style all his own! In four short stories, Smiffy Blue turns crime solving upside down. Readers find clues along the way hidden in the humorous, two color illustrations.

145th Street

A salty, wrenchingly honest collection of stories set on one block of 145th Street. We get to know the oldest resident; the cop on the beat; fine Peaches and her girl, Squeezie; Monkeyman; and Benny, a fighter on the way to a knockout. We meet Angela, who starts having prophetic dreams after her father is killed; Kitty, whose love for Mack pulls him back from the brink; and Big Joe, who wants a bang up funeral while he’s still around to enjoy it. Some of these stories are private, and some are the ones behind the headlines. In each one, characters jump off the page and pull readers right into the mix on 1 4 5. From the Paperback edition.

A Time to Love

Like Anita Diamont’s bestselling THE RED TENT, this stunning collaboration from an award winning father & son team finds inspiration in the world’s most profound & influential literary work, the BibleCombining the power of his finest fiction w/ the exquisite language of his poetry, Walter Dean Myers retells 6 stories from the Old Testament all w/ YA narrators. Some stories are well known Samson&Delilah, others less so Aser&Gamiel. Some are straightforward Ruth&Naomi. Others are complicated & challenging Abraham&Isaac. But like the bloodlines that connect many of these biblical figures, a common theme courses through their stories: LOVE. Christopher’s arresting artwork is grounded in the traditions of classical art but is infused with a vision and soul all his own.

What They Found

WALTER DEAN MYERS returns to the world of 145th Street: Short Stories to show how love can be found, and thrive, in the most unlikely places. Curtis finds love in Iraq as he struggles to stay alive in a war he doesn’t want to fight, and Letha discovers her own beauty in the love of her child. There is the ‘good daughter’ who realizes that there’s only one way to help her brother and her family. Other stories center on the daily drama of the Curl E Que beauty shop, or capture the slapstick side of passion. From the Hardcover edition.

The Dragon Takes a Wife

A reissue of the Newbery Honor author and Coretta Scott King Award winner’s first picture book, complete with stunning new illustrations, presents the story of a dragon seeking companionship and a kindhearted, mildly incompetent, jive talking fairy named Mabel Mae Jones.

How Mr Monkey Saw the Whole World

After watching cold hearted, cruel Mr. Buzzard cheat Mr. Hare, Mr. Antelope, and Mr. Crab, Mr. Monkey sets out to teach the greedy bird a much needed lesson, in a brightly illustrated cautionary tale by the award winning author of Scorpions.

The Great Migration

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. A series of paintings chronicles the journey of African Americans who, like the artist’s family, left the rural South in the early 20th century to find a better life in the industrial North.

Jazz

This smash hit picture book of jazz music poems, from award winning father don team Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers, is now available in paperback. There’s a crazy syncopation /and it’s tearing through the nation / and it’s bringing sweet elation / to every single tune./ It’s Jazz/ From bebop to New Orleans, from ragtime to boogie, and every style in between, this collection of Walter Dean Myers’s energetic and engaging poems, accompanied by Christopher Myers’s bright and exhilarating paintings, celebrates different styles of the American art form, jazz. ‘JAZZ’ takes readers on a musical journey from jazz’s beginnings to the present day. Includes time line and jazz glossary.

Looking Like Me

When you look in a mirror, who do you see? A boy? A girl?A son? A daughter?A runner? A dancer?Whoever and whatever you see just put out your fist and give yourself an ‘I am’ BAM! This jumping, jazzy, joyful picture book by the award winning team of Walter Dean and Christoper Myers celebrates every child, and every thing that child can be.

Looking for the Easy Life

Life’s pretty good on Monkey Island. All day long, the monkeys sit around talking their monkey talk and enjoying their big time monkey dreams. That is, except Oswego Pete, who is one slick monkey. He’s bent on finding the Easy Life a place where a monkey never has to bend all out of shape for a banana, or do any hard work, ever. Is it where the high grass grows at the foot of the mountain? Or down by the seaside? Uh Huh Freddie, the Chief Monkey, says easy isn’t always good, and a little hard work’s not always bad. Who’s right? You will learn how to find the Easy Life in this witty adventure from popular author Walter Dean Myers and artist Lee Harper.

Now Is Your Time!

History has made me an African American. It is an Africa that I have come from, and an America that I have helped to create. Since they were first brought as captives to Virginia, the people who would become African Americans have struggled for freedom. Thousands fought for the rights of all Americans during the Revolutionary War, and for their own rights during the Civil War. On the battlefield, through education, and through their creative genius, they have worked toward one goal: that the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness be denied no one. Fired by the legacy of men and women like Abd al Rahman Ibrahima, Ida B. Wells, and George Latimer, the struggle continues today. Here is African American history, told through the stories of the people whose experiences have shaped and continue to shape the America in which we live.

A Place Called Heartbreak

Describes the ordeal of Major Fred Cherry, who was shot down in combat over Vietnam and spent seven and a half years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi.

Young Martin’s Promise

Relates events in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, childhood which sowed the seeds for his activism for equal rights for people, regardless of their color.

Malcolm X

‘We never can win freedom and justice and equality until we are doing something for ourselves!’Malcolm X learned from his father that black people should demand equality by taking their lives and futures into their own hands. Malcolm believed in this idea. It was one he lived by. Though Malcolm faced hard times growing up and even went to jail, he turned his life around. He read books and combined lessons he’d learned from his father and from the religious leader Elijah Muhammad. Soon Malcolm would become a powerful leader in the struggle for blacks to achieve equality. Malcolm died tragically when he was only thirty nine, but his beliefs live on today. Walter Dean Myers’s evenhanded narrative and Leonard Jenkins’s striking paintings celebrate the man and the fiery message he brought to all people of color.’I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being, neither white, black, brown, nor red.’Malcolm X was one of the most controversial civil rights leaders of our century. This compelling narrative for picture book readers explores Malcolm’s journey from his tragic childhood to his life as a street hustler, a Black Muslim, a prison inmate, and a fearless leader in the struggle for blacks to achieve equality. Walter Dean Myers skillfully weaves quotes from Malcolm’s speeches to re create the life and times of this extraordinary man. His dynamic text and Leonard Jenkins’ boldly colored, richly textured paintings celebrate Malcolm X and his fiery message. Children’s Books 2000 NY Public Lib. Malcolm X was one of the most controversial civil rights leaders of our century. This compelling narrative for picture book readers explores Malcolm’s journey from his tragic childhood to his life as a street hustler, a Black Muslim, a prison inmate, and a fearless leader in the struggle for blacks to achieve equality. Walter Dean Myers skillfully weaves quotes from Malcolm s speeches to re create the life and times of this extraordinary man. His dynamic text and Leonard Jenkins boldly colored, richly textured paintings celebrate Malcolm X and his fiery message.

One More River to Cross

This intimate collection of photographs documents the African American experience, a journey from captivity to freedom, from south to north, east to west. It celebrates the courageous achievements of men and women whose defiant rejection of inequality and subjugation put their own lives at risk.

Toussaint L’ouverture

The liberation of Haiti under Toussaint L’ouverture, a freed slave who became general of the slave army, which rose against the French in 1791, is told in exciting, factual narrative and enhanced by bold, full color paintings.

The Greatest

The Louisville Lip. Cassius Clay. The Greatest. Muhammad Ali may be known by more than one name, but his accomplishments, both inside and out of the boxing ring, have earned him a singular place in history as one of the most inspiring figures of the twentieth century. In his riveting portrayal of Ali’s spirit and courage, award winning author Walter Dean Myers also exposes the hazards of boxing the sport Ali loved, but which ultimately damaged him and many other greats beyond repair. Through the story of Ali’s childhood, his rise as a champion, his politics, and his battle against Parkinsons’ disease, readers will come to know the man behind the brash public persona the man whose talent and legacy will stir and inspire a new generation of fans.

Amistad

In 1839, there was a rebellion on the slave ship Amistad. In a bloody struggle, the African captives aboard rebelled against their kidnappers and declared mutiny. While trying to sail the ship home, the Africans accidentally ended up in New York. They were later imprisoned and put on trial for murder. Award winning author Walter Dean Myers’s probing look at this triumph over indignity and injustice shows the events’ effect on the country America has become. ‘With characteristic scholarship, clarity, insight, and compassion, Myers presents readers with the facts and the moral and historical significance of the Amistad episode.’ School Library Journal

Angel to Angel

In this square room there isA feeling light as sunon a bird’s wing,the heady scent of baby oila quilt with magic symbolsWhen he was a child, Walter Dean Myers dedicated his first poem to his mother. Forty years later, his tribute continues in this heartwarming collection of poignant verses and luminous antique photographs. Myers evokes the special bond between mother and child with the simple and timeless imagery of childhood a warm bed, the morning sunlight, a hissing kettle, a lazy afternoon. By turns serious, funny, and joyful, this exquisite collection is a glorious celebration of family life and love.

At Her Majesty’s Request

Biography of the African princess saved from execution and taken to England where Queen Victoria oversaw her upbringing and where she lived for a time before marrying an African missionary.

The Blues of Flats Brown

To escape an abusive master, a junkyard dog named Flats runs away and makes a name for himself from Mississippi to New York City playing blues on his guitar.

Bad Boy

In his own words…
As a boy, Walter Dean Myers was quick tempered and physically strong, always ready for a fight. He also read voraciously he would check out books from the library and carry them home, hidden in brown paper bags in order to avoid other boys’ teasing. He aspired to be a writer. But growing up in a poor family in Harlem, his hope for a successful future diminished as he came to realize fully the class and racial struggles that surrounded him. He began to doubt himself and the values that he had always relied on, attending high school less and less, turning to the streets and his books for comfort. In a memoir that is gripping, funny, and ultimately unforgettable, Walter Dean Myers travels back to his roots in the magical world of Harlem during the 1940s and 1950s. Here is the story of one of the strongest voices in young people’s literature today.

Patrol

Vietnam.A young American soldier waits for his enemy, rifle in hand, finger on the trigger. He is afraid to move and yet afraid not to move. Gunshots crackle in the still air. The soldier fires blindly into the distant trees at an unseen enemy. He crouches and waits heart pounding, tense and trembling, biting back tears. When will it all be over?Walter Dean Myers joined the army on his seventeeth birthday, at the onset of American involvement in Vietnam, but it was the death of his brother in 1968 that forever changed his mind about war. In a gripping and powerful story poem, the award winning author takes readers into the heart and mind of a young soldier in an alien land who comes face to face with the enemy. Strikingly illustrated with evocative and emotionally wrenching collages by Caldecott Honor artist Ann Grifalconi, this unforgettable portrait captures one American G.L’s haunting experience.

Blues Journey

The opening verse of this latest father/son collaboration probes the very essence of a form and a feeling; it asks the question that anyone who has sought solace in music can relate to. The pair’s first composition wandered through a Harlem collage, depicting ‘a call, a song, the mood indigo, a language of darkness.’ This new duet is the blues: verbally and visually, it explores the idiom while exemplifying it. A call and response accompanies each painting. As the journey progresses, the lyrics and art look at loss through the lenses of slavery, poverty, lynching, love spurned, fear of dying and of living. An author’s note provides a lucid description of the history, elements, and importance of the blues.

I’ve Seen the Promised Land

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is one of the most celebrated figures of the twentieth century. A crusader for nonviolent social justice, he led African Americans in their demands for equality through peaceful protests during one of the most tumultuous times in recent history. Set against key moments in the civil rights movement, here is the story of the powerful, eloquent spiritual leader and his belief that nonviolence could be used to overcome racial discrimination. Walter Dean Myers’s moving narrative and Leonard Jenkins’s compelling paintings portray a vivid and striking image of the man who moved American society closer to the ideals of freedom and fairness. Dr. King’s dream that all Americans would be judged by their individual actions and character is one we still cherish today.

USS Constellation

Myers relates the illustrious history of our nation’s last all sail warship. He describes her original construction and launch in 1797 and early victories against the French frigate Insurgente and Barbary Coast pirates. He then details the mid 18th century ‘repair’ that transformed the ship into the ‘second’ Constellation, a vessel that roamed the Atlantic to interdict the slave trade, saw Civil War action, and was finally used for training officers. The author also explains how the Constellation was operated and how its sailors were trained, and sums up the various rebuilding efforts that culminated in restoring her to her 1854 condition and her 1999 return to Baltimore Harbor. He includes many lengthy primary source quotes, such as an account of the Constellation’s 1860 encounter with a slave vessel and the specific instructions for sailors who handled gunpowder. There are numerous period illustrations and photos of the vessel and those who served on her as well as an extensive bibliography with primary and secondary sources and Web sites.

Antarctica

Walter Dean Myers presents a thrilling record of Antarctica and the expedition parties that uncovered the frozen continent. Walter Dean Myers brings the dramatic race to the South Pole to lie in Antarctica, tracking the explorers of the South Pole and the dangers they encountered there, as well as their contributions to modern science. He describes the extreme climate conditions in Antarctica, the wildlife, the whaling and merchant sailing industries that took root there, and the various exploration parties, including James Cook, Richard Byrd, and Ernest Shackleton. Myers depicts the heroism and adventure of the expeditions using photos, maps, and illustrations to complement the text.

The Harlem Hellfighters

The story of The Harlem Hellfighters is not simply one of victory in a war…
. It is the story of men who acted as men, and who gave a good account of themselves when so many people thought, even hoped, that they would fail. What defines a true hero? The ‘Harlem Hellfighters,’ the African American soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment of World War I, redefined heroism for America, and for the world. At a time of widespread bigotry and racism, these soldiers put their lives on the line in the name of democracy. ‘The Harlem Hellfighters: When Pride Met Courage’ is a portrait of bravery and honor. With compelling narrative and never before published photographs, Michael L. Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers and renowned filmmaker Bill Miles deftly portray the true story of these unsung American heroes.

We Are America

New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers and Caldecott Honor artist Christopher Myers, the father son team who created harlem, celebrate the freedom dream that is America: our struggles, our ideals, and our hope that we can live up to them. What is it to be an American? To live in a strange and beautiful land of complexity, with a tumultuous history of epic proportions, among the people who were here first, who came after, who will come tomorrow. We were the youth that could not fail Planting our high ideals in virgin lands and eager hearts Making vows forever brighter than the story we would live…
The lyrical free verse evocative of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and striking mural like paintings are a testimonial to the heart and soul of our country: its ordinary and extraordinary people and the monumental events that have shaped our nation. With layered, sweeping panoramic paintings and text rich with historical allusion, this stunning picture book features passionate writings and vivid portraits of political Americans, from Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, to Abraham Lincoln to Jimi Hendrix.

Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells was an extraordinary woman. Long before boycotts, sit ins, and freedom rides, Ida B. Wells was hard at work to better the lives of African Americans. An activist, educator, writer, journalist, suffragette, and pioneering voice against the horror of lynching, she used fierce determination and the power of the pen to educate the world about the unequal treatment of blacks in the United States. Award winning author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of this legendary figure, which blends harmoniously with the historically detailed watercolor paintings of illustrator Bonnie Christensen.

Muhammad Ali: The People’s Champion

‘I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.’ He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky. His very first boxing coach, former police officer Joe Martin, told him, ‘You better learn how to fight before you start challenging people.’ Once considered the underdog, Cassius, later known as Muhammad Ali, would eventually win the title of heavyweight champion of the world. Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers recounts the champ’s most famous fights and examines the depth and complexity of the larger than life legend Muhammad Ali. The bold, vibrant art of Alix Delinois reflects the beauty and power of the man who could ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.’

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