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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.
Content Warning: This section discusses racism.
Myers was a prolific author whose works were mostly intended for children and young adults. Born in 1937, he left his native West Virginia at the age of two, when his mother died and he was sent to Harlem to be raised by his father’s ex-wife and her husband. His experience of living in an underprivileged, predominantly Black neighborhood informs his exploration of racism in America in his books. In The Greatest, he discusses Ali from the perspective of himself as a teenager and constructs himself as an example of a Black child who benefitted from such a role model.
He was fascinated with books from a young age, but with a great deal of instability in his home, he did not finish high school and joined the army at 17. Following his military service, he became aware of the lack of Black representation in literature for young people and began a 45-year career as a writer, which would ultimately produce over 100 books. Among his most famous works is the graphic novel Monster (1999), which tells the story of a teenage Black boy accused of murder and is largely in the format of an imagined movie screenplay.
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
Shooter
Shooter
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 Young Landlords
The Young Landlords
Walter Dean Myers