Bad Boy: A Memoir

We can all relate to being the odd one out, but not all of us can relate to being discriminated by an entire country. This memoir called Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers is an insightful novel about what it is like growing up as an African American boy in Harlem during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Walter is a tough, ill-tempered boy who just can’t seem to stay out of trouble and lives with his adoptive parents. A speech problem he had would provoke his classmates to make fun of Walter which got him in trouble with his teachers. He meant well, but at times he just couldn’t control his anger. Walter is an exceptionally bright young man who discovers his love for reading which becomes his escape from the rest of the world. Sports also play a show more big part in his life. Most of his time as a child was spent playing ball games they made up, or going to the park to play basketball. Although he loved sports, he didn’t exactly have the resources to play competitively. Once he hits high school, he begins to lose himself and doesn’t really know where he wants to go in life. As he misses more and more days of school his teachers begin to notice, so he has to see a counselor every week. The women he sees asks him the question “do you like being black?” and Walter answers yes of course, but it makes him think about himself in different ways than he had before. For Walter, reading and writing are his remedies for when he is feeling lost or out of place. When he wasn’t going to school, he was in the park reading as many as three books a week. This story connects to the American Dream because it is all about the struggle for a good life. Throughout the book, Walter watches as his colleagues apply for colleges and discover what they want to do for a living. He doesn’t know what he wants to do when he’s older but he knows he doesn’t want to become like all the other black men in Harlem who have jobs that require only physical strength and no intellectuality. He wants to make a name for himself and be content with what he becomes. “I was a thinking being, and I wanted to know where I fit into the world. Even if the importance of defining myself had somehow eluded me, there were people around me who would not let me forget the importance of announcing to the world who I was or who I intended to be.” (Page 175) I enjoyed this book because it gave me a chance to get an idea of someone else’s perspective on life. The way Walter lived is very different from how I live. I will never fully understand what it must have been like to grow up as an African American in that period of time, but this memoir changed my outlook on things in many different ways. The way the author wrote the story is enjoyable in the sense that it wasn’t told with much dialogue, but it included many stories from his childhood and how they affected him as a person. The story brings up different outlooks on everyday things that the reader may not think about at all. It was a short but compelling story that was worth reading. -O.D. show less

It was good to learn more about Walter Dean Myers' life, even in a strangely terse and episodic format. He feels almost like two entirely different people -- the intellectual and the fighter. I hope he managed to find some peace later in his life. I think there's a lot that young people might identify with -- feeling lost, at war with yourself over family relationships, an inability to connect with academic education -- but it's also pretty depressing and disjointed.

5Q
4P

Just like the protagonist in his young adult novel Lockdown, young Walter Dean Meyers grows up struggling to control his issues with anger as they continue to land him in trouble until he discovers the ability to channel his feelings into his writing. In his memoir, Meyers paints a vivid picture of his life, his family, and his acquaintances that is engaging and that makes this book a page-turner. Readers may be interested to hear about the early life of such a prolific author, and the book will continue to draw them in until the very last page!

I am so glad to have read this book with my 6th-grade students! What honesty he exhibits about his life and struggles! I love that there is a happy ending, and it was actually quite easy for my students to arrive at a message he was communicating to them. There were parts I would not read aloud with them from Myers' teen years, but it was all part of his complete honesty about his life. Many students were so engaged in this book for its honesty and its right in your face approach to the racism Myers encountered when he grew up. Every parent should read this book and then let their middle or high school aged kids read it.

I’m not familiar with Walter Dean Myers’ work but after reading this biography I think I’ll have to check out some of his books. This book was surprisingly relatable to me on certain levels. Clearly the experiences of a child raised in Harlem won’t reflect those of a child raised in Tucson, but I was able to relate to Myers’ teenage problems. Myers’ problems with identity and angst as a young man are universal with any young man that is trying to understand who he is.

personal response: After reading about his life, particularly his early childhood, I am amazed Walter Dean Myers is still alive. He sounds like he took a lot of stupid risks as a kid. Overall, it was nice to see where he came from and how he became the person that wrote wonderful stories like Monster. When he describes his friend throwing away a stack of comic books every month I cringed. How could someone do that? I wonder what treasures were discarded.

curricular connections:
a must to include in an author study.
reflection of mid-20th century domestic history

This memoir is an account of Walter Dean Myers' childhood in Harlem. While this memoir may be difficult to incorporate into a middle school classroom, Myers' tales show how his inner struggles and questions helped to shape himself as a writer. The questions and confusion that he experienced as a teen, highly influenced by his own race and how he fit into the world, is one that can be translated into many teenagers lives. I think this book would be beneficial for any student who may be struggling to find his or her place in any environment. I enjoyed reading about his childhood and look forward to exploring his fiction books as well.