Walter Dean Myers was a prolific African American author who was best known for his young adult novels that discuss the complex life experiences of African American youths. Myers was born in 1937 in West Virginia. He was raised by two foster parents in Harlem, New York, after the death of his mother when he was two years old. Meyers developed a passion for reading and writing as a child; he would spend hours at the public library reading, immersing himself in the world of literature. His passion for reading would later become the driving force behind his career as an author.

Myers served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1957, and he began writing about his experiences in the army to shed light on the racism and discrimination that he experienced. Perry and his fellow Black soldiers also experience racism and discrimination in Fallen Angels. In 1969, Myers published his first novel, Where Does the Day Go?, a picture book for children that won a contest held by the Council on Interracial Books for Children. Myers worked at a publishing house called Bobbs-Merrill Company for several years as an acquisitions editor supporting Black authors and readers. In 1977, Myers began to write full-time, focusing on the experiences of economically disadvantaged young adults in America, specifically African American children living in Harlem where he grew up.