Martyr. Prophet. Hustler. Dealer. Troublemaker. Revolutionary. A BIOGRAPHY BY As a fourteen-year-old he was Malcolm Little, the president of his class and a top student. At sixteen he was hustling tips at a Boston nightclub. In Harlem he was known as Detroit Red, a slick street operator. At nineteen he was back in Boston, leading a gang of burglars. At twenty he was in prison. It was in prison that Malcolm Little started the journey that would lead him to adopt the name Malcolm X, and there he developed his beliefs about what being Black means in America. From streetwise teenager to the militant leader of hundreds of thousands in the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X was one of the most respected, and most feared, men in American history. Even today, years after his assassination, young people still listen to his speeches and read his autobiography. In this forthright and courageous account, Walter Dean Myers, two-time winner of the Newbery Honor and four-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, depicts a complex man whose life reflected the major issues of our times.
New York City's Five Points district in 1846 is a volatile mixture of poor blacks and immigrants from Europe. William Henry Lane is a teenager working odd jobs to make ends meet, but he really loves to dance. Watching the other dancers in Five Points, and practicing when he can, he gets so good that he begins to call himself "Master Juba."
Master Juba is just another entertainer, dancing in return for supper money, until he is brought to the attention of Charles Dickens, the great English novelist. Dickens writes about Juba and his dancing in his book American Notes, and it is as "Boz's Juba" (Boz was Dickens's nom de plume) that Juba performs in England with the Pell Serenaders. Juba quickly finds that, in London, he's turning heads and taking the city by storm with his dancing skills and sense of rhythm.
But what will Juba do when the Serenaders have to return to the United States? Slavery has been abolished in England; in the U.S., it still exists in all its ugliness. Free black men and women are often captured in the North and sent down South as slaves. England offers freedoms that Juba could only dream of in the States, and returning home may prove a dangerous decision.
This novel is based on a true story, the intricacies of Juba's meteoric rise as an explosive young black dancer brought to life by Walter Dean Myers through meticulous and intensive research.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers also counts two Newbery Honor Medals and numerous Coretta Scott King Awards among his many accolades. In Invasion, it’s May 1944, and Josiah Wedgewood and Marcus Perry—two young men of different races and backgrounds—are headed to Normandy’s front lines. There they’ll share the joys of friendship, the terrible truths of war, and what it’s like to fear that each day will be their last.
The Cruisers are in trouble — again. The freedom of expression they’ve enjoyed by publishing their own school newspaper, The Cruiser, has spread all the way to England, where kids from a school “across the pond” are now contributors to their own school’s most talked-about publication. When photos start to go alongside the articles written by kids, things get suspicious. Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, Bobbi — and a bunch of students from Harlem’s Da Vinci Academy and London’s Phoenix School — come to learn that words and pictures in a newspaper don’t always tell the whole story. With his signature on-point dialogue and smart characters, award-winning author Walter Dean Myers delivers another awesome book about the Cruisers, a group of middle-school misfits who are becoming the coolest kids in the city.
New York Times bestselling author and Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers once again connects with teenagers everywhere in Darius & Twig, a novel about friendship and needing to live your own dream.
Darius and Twig are an unlikely pair: Darius is a writer whose only escape is his alter ego, a peregrine falcon named Fury, and Twig is a middle-distance runner striving for athletic success. But they are drawn together in the struggle to overcome the obstacles that Harlem life throws at them.The two friends must face down bullies, an abusive uncle, and the idea that they'll be stuck in the same place forever in this touching and raw new teen novel from Walter Dean Myers, award-winning author of Monster, Kick, We Are America, Bad Boy, and many other celebrated literary works for children and teens.
As a fourteen-year-old he was Malcolm Little, the president of his class and a top student. At sixteen he was hustling tips at a Boston nightclub. At twenty "Detroit Red" was in prison. It was there Malcolm Little started the journey that would lead him to adopt the name Malcolm X, and develop his beliefs about what being black means in America: beliefs that shook America then, and still shake America today. His significant role in the Nation of Islam and eventual split from it, along with his journey to Mecca, followed by his assassination in Harlem are chronicled in this fascinating portrait.
The Cruiser, the alternative newspaper published by Zander and his crew of middle school misfits, is alive and well. And now there's plenty to report on when LaShonda, one of the Cruisers, steps into the spotlight with her costume designs for an upcoming play. LaShonda's designs get rave reviews, but she soon learns that show business is filled with challenges and choices. LaShonda is forced to consider what's more important - fame or loyalty to her autistic brother. Whether she gets a standing ovation or the curtain pulled down on her is up to LaShonda. And she can't help but wonder if the Cruisers have got her back and will be there for her whether she's center stage or waiting in the wings.
Paul DuPree is working at a soup kitchen in Harlem the summer his father dies, just trying to get by. But Elijah, the soup man, won't stop talking about the social contract and asking Paul questions about heavy-duty things. Paul has never thought about this stuff. He'd rather hang out with Keisha, an unwed teen mom whose basketball skills rival his own.
Then Sly, a notorious Harlem big shot, shows up. Paul is both intrigued and intimidated by Sly and his conspiracy theories, and for once he starts contemplating how you really get ahead in life. As the talk of what-ifs turns into reality, Paul realizes his summer is about more than getting by-it's about taking charge of your life.
