Walter Dean Myers (1937–2014)

I started off quite excited by this book: A Newbery I hadn't yet read by an author I didn't know! What's not to get excited about? But the more I got into it, the more I just wanted to put it down and crawl away. Yes, crawl, that's the feeling I want to express. But I did finish it. Here's my conflict:

The book's style is well-crafted, consistent and carefully implemented. I can't understate the craftsmanship here, [a:Walter Dean Myers|13291|Walter Dean show more Myers|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1230178601p2/13291.jpg] does a great job expressing the swing between the hopelessness of the streets and the hope that the maternal figures cling to. Myers writes well.

But it's that hopelessness that made me want to crawl away from this book. The mother, the friends' mothers/grandmothers and the school authority figures all have a frustrated hope that tries to overpower the dull ache that the streets, the gangs, the fistfights and the constant struggle to put food on the table bring into their homes and school. And Myers does an excellent job showing how strong the hopelessness is and how all involved are simply a single decision away from ending their life or losing their freedom.

So, ordinarily this book would merit two stars from me, but Myers' mastery of taking letters and making them into words, stringing words into sentences and crafting those sentences into paragraphs and chapters and doing it all with the same artful strokes and consistent colors, voices, theme and story—for that, I rate this book four stars. In some sense, I'm rating the author and his art, not the book. Think of it that way. show less

They called him Toussaint L'Ouverture, meaning "the opener", because he broke through French enemy lines during Haiti's remarkable slave-led revolution. The could have also called him that for opening up the first true democracy on the island of Hispaniola. This revolution is one that is all too often passed over and I think it would make great short reading for a middle school history class. As just about everybody has noted, history highlights far too few black heroes. Toussaint is as big show more a hero as they come and his story is awe-inspiring. Also, the book is illustrated by paintings from Jacob Lawrence, an artist from Harlem representing "a new wave of black expression". He, like any young black student might be, was inspired by the revolt and freedom cry of Haitians and created a series of paintings to present it as it was: bloody, right, and incredibly important. show less

This slim volume, written in free verse, tells the story of Damien and Junice, two Harlem teenagers who fall in love despite all the forces against them. Junice’s mother has just been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for possession and distribution of drugs, and she has no one to look after her and her nine-year-old sister, Melissa. Damien’s mother and father are proud of his accomplishments, including acceptance to Brown, but they want no part of Junice or her troubles. How the show more two lovers meet, interact, and ultimately decide their fate unfolds in short poems written from multiple points of view. Sometimes we get glimpses into Damien’s thoughts, other times Junice’s, the mothers’, and even the social worker assigned to Junice’s case. Myers displays his considerable talents through these vignettes as each poetic voice is at once unique and in harmony with the other poems.

Both Damien and Junice are strong characters. Damien is thoughtful and kind, while Junice refuses to let her situation define her. She even tells Damien at one point, “I am only what you see, this stick/Of a woman trying to make enough magic/To negotiate the shadows of these streets...My life is not packaged” (109). The adult characters get less sympathetic portrayals; though they all have their reasons for wanting to keep Damien and Junice apart, their cynicism reveals their powerlessness.

Students will enjoy the gritty setting, which gets plenty of loving description by Myers. However, they may find the format hard to follow. It would be best to teach this novel by having students actually read it aloud and act it out, so that they have concrete movements to convey what is at times rather abstract prose. While there is no cussing, mature content makes this a better pick for ages 14 and up. show less

Motown lives in a burned-out building one floor above the rats, searching out jobs every day, working his muscles every night, keeping strong, surviving. Didi lives in her cool dream bubble, untouched by the Harlem heat that beats down on her brother until only drugs can soothe him. Didi escapes, without needles, in her tidy plans and stainless visions, etchings of ivycovered colleges where her true life will begin. Didi can survive inside her own safe mind, until Motown steps into her real show more world and makes it bearable. Together they can stand the often brutal present. What about the future? show less