34 pages • 1 hour read
Walter Dean MyersA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“I guess we don’t really talk that much. When we do talk—usually it’s about something—maybe about their jobs or something. They talk about their jobs a lot.”
This passage shows the lack of communication in Cameron’s family. His parents are too obsessed with their jobs and financial status to focus on Cameron’s well-being. In addition, Cameron mentions his parents traveling a lot for work and not being around. As a successful businessman, Cameron’s father also puts a lot of pressure on Cameron to measure up to him in everything. Myers shows how neglect is also a form of familial abuse.
“He was really mad—not like in his head, but in his body. His shoulders were shaking and his hands were trembling. There was a kid in school who was taking some drug., I think it was Librium or Prozac, something. […] That was what Len went back to school for.”
Len turns to drugs anytime something causes stress or anxiety in his life. Though Myers doesn’t say that drugs caused Len to become a killer, he implies that they are one factor among several.
“[Bullying] was pretty constant. Once you became a target, they kept zeroing in on you. Did you ever see that video game where the guy tries to run across the screen, hiding behind rocks and stuff? And every time you shoot him, he stops and changes direction? If you shoot him enough times, he goes back and forth like a real jerk. That’s what it was like sometimes at Madison.”
Cameron describes the relentlessness of the bullying that both he and Len faced. This passage shows Cameron’s vulnerability. Instead of being defensive or evasive, he opens up about the hurt and powerlessness of being a victim.
By Walter Dean Myers
Autobiography of My Dead Brother
Autobiography of My Dead Brother
Walter Dean Myers
Bad Boy: A Memoir
Bad Boy: A Memoir
Walter Dean Myers
Dope Sick
Dope Sick
Walter Dean Myers
Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels
Walter Dean Myers
Hoops
Hoops
Walter Dean Myers
Lockdown
Lockdown
Walter Dean Myers
Monster
Monster
Walter Dean Myers
Scorpions
Scorpions
Walter Dean Myers
Slam!
Slam!
Walter Dean Myers
Somewhere in the Darkness
Somewhere in the Darkness
Walter Dean Myers
Street Love
Street Love
Walter Dean Myers
Sunrise Over Fallujah
Sunrise Over Fallujah
Walter Dean Myers
The Glory Field
The Glory Field
Walter Dean Myers
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
Walter Dean Myers
The Young Landlords
The Young Landlords
Walter Dean Myers