Into a memoir that is gripping, funny, heartbreaking, and unforgettable, Walter Dean Myers richly weaves the details of his Harlem childhood in the 1940s and 1950s: a loving home life with his adopted parents, Bible school, street games, and the vitality of his neighborhood. Although Walter spent much of his time either getting into trouble or on the basketball court, secretly he was a voracious reader and an aspiring writer. But as his prospects for a successful future diminished, the values he had been taught at home, in school, and in his community seemed worthless, and he turned to the streets and his books for comfort. Here in his own words is the story of one of the strongest voices in children's and young adult literature today.

The world knows Myers as a gifted black writer. In BAD BOY, he tells us about growing up in Harlem in the 1950s. Though he was athletic and energetic, he also had a passion for reading. Secretly he haunted libraries, reading stories, poems, even philosophy as he hunted for his voice. That, even more than fighting and basketball, defined who he was. Acclaimed actor Joe Morton reads Myers's transition from "bad boy" to writer as if it were fiction. His voice is tight, sharp, at times attacking the reader, at times laughing at the ironies and complexities of growing up in Harlem. Above all, Morton makes sure we hear Myers's crisp prose. For young writers unsure of how or where to find their own voices, Myers points the way. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

 

Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers
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