Richard Dudeck Young Adult Literature December 8, 2010

“Should whites write about blacks? Of course I feel you should write about anybody you want to write about, I couldn’t care less who you write about! But what very often happens is that, when you’re writing about a culture that’s not your own, you may hit large areas of it, but there are so many areas that you miss” - Walter Dean Myers From: Roger Sutton. “Threads in Our Cultural Fabric”, School Library Journal. Vol. 40, No. 6 (June 1994): 26.

 Born in West Virginia in  Mom died while birthing another child, Dad sent him to foster parents in Harlem, New York.  Suffered a speech impediment as a child- wrote short stories and poetry to express himself.  He read a great deal as a child.

 Dropped out of school at 16.  Joined the Army on his 17 th birthday- it was not what he thought it would be.  Worked odd jobs after the army, most of which “weren’t worth mentioning”.  He began writing freelance for magazines and periodicals.  In 1969, he won a competition for The Council on Interracial Books for Children for Where Does the Day Go? Has not stopped writing since!

 Race and the criminal justice system  Accepting personal responsibility  Loss of innocence  Brotherhood/survival  Reality/horrors of war

 Myers’ novels are “raw”.  Prison violence.  Foul language in many of his novels.  Graphic depictions of war- very disturbing!  Racial, ethnic and homophobic slurs.  Drug/alcohol abuse in some novels  Myers’ novels should be used with older, more mature students.

Where Does the Day Go? New York: Parents Magazine Press, Motown and Didi: A Love Story. New York: Viking, Fallen Angels. New York: Scholastic, Scorpions. New York: Harper and Row, Somewhere in the Darkness. New York: Scholastic, Monster. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1999.

 Coretta Scott King Award ( 5 times)  ALA Best Books for Young Adults (7 times)  Parent’s Choice Award (3 times)  Newberry Honor Book Award (2 times)  Michael L. Printz Award (Monster)