Walter Dean Myers
1) Monster
Author
Series
Lexile measure
670L
Language
English
Description
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
2) Shooter
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Written in the form of interviews, reports, and journal entries, the story of three troubled teenagers ends in a tragic school shooting.
3) Kick
Author
Lexile measure
710L
Language
English
Formats
Description
Told in their separate voices, thirteen-year-old soccer star Kevin and police sergeant Brown, who knew his father, try to keep Kevin out of juvenile hall after he is arrested on very serious charges.
Author
Lexile measure
970L
Language
English
Formats
Description
New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers traveled back to his roots in this memoir that is gripping, funny, and ultimately unforgettable. Don't miss this memoir by a former National Ambassador of Books for Young People!
As a boy, Myers was quick-tempered and physically strong, always ready for a fight. He also read voraciously-he would check out books from the library and carry them home, hidden in brown paper bags in order to avoid other...
7) Lockdown
Author
Lexile measure
730L
Language
English
Formats
Description
Teenage Reese, serving time at a juvenile detention facility, gets a lesson in making it through hard times from an unlikely friend with a harrowing past.
Author
Lexile measure
HL 810L
Language
English
Formats
Description
The summer after his absentee father is killed in a random shooting, Paul volunteers at a Harlem soup kitchen where he listens to lessons about "the social contract" from an elderly African American man, and mentors a seventeen-year-old unwed mother who wants to make it to college on a basketball scholarship.
9) Game
Author
Lexile measure
800L
Language
English
Formats
Description
If Harlem high school senior Drew Lawson is going to realize his dream of playing college, then professional, basketball, he will have to improve at being coached and being a team player, especially after a new--white--student threatens to take the scouts' attention away from him.
10) Scorpions
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Reluctantly taking on the leadership of the Harlem gang, the Scorpions, Jamal finds that his enemies treat him with respect when he acquires a gun--until a tragedy occurs.
11) The Dream Bearer
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
David Curry doesn't know what to make of his father, Reuben, who's violent out bursts and chilling nightmares torment his family. His older brother, Tyrone, says Reuben is crazy. But lately, even Tyrone isn't acting like himself. Then David meets the mysterious Mr. Moses, who tells him that dreams might be the only things we have that are real. And it is Mr. Moses's gift of dreams that gives David a new way to see inside his father's troubled heart....
12) Dope sick
Author
Lexile measure
HL 720L
Language
English
Formats
Description
Seeing no way out of his difficult life in Harlem, seventeen-year-old Jeremy "Lil J" Dance flees into a house after a drug deal goes awry and meets a weird man who shows different turning points in Lil J's life when he could have made better choices.
13) Jazz
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
From bebop to New Orleans, from ragtime to boogie--and every style in between--this collection of energetic poems, accompanied by bright and exhilarating paintings, celebrates different styles of the American art form, jazz.
14) The Glory Field
Author
Series
Lexile measure
800L
Language
English
Formats
Description
An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers' bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover.
"Those shackles didn't rob us of being black, son, they robbed us of being human."
This is the story of one family. A family whose history saw its first ancestor captured, shackled, and brought to this country from Africa. A family who can still see remnants of the shackles...
15) Invasion
Author
Lexile measure
760L
Language
English
Formats
Description
Josiah Wedgewood and Marcus Perry were friends in Virginia, but now that they are both involved in the Normandy invasion, the differences in their positions is uncomfortable, for Josiah is a white infantryman and Marcus is a black transport driver, the only role the segregated army will allow him.
16) Darius & Twig
Author
Lexile measure
730L
Language
English
Formats
Description
Darius is a writer whose only escape is his alter ego, a peregrine falcon named Fury, and Twig is a middle-distance runner striving for athletic success. But they are drawn together in the struggle to overcome the obstacles that life in Harlem throws at them. The two friends must face down bullies, an abusive uncle, and the idea that they'll be stuck in the same place forever.
17) Juba!
Author
Lexile measure
850L
Language
English
Formats
Description
In Five Points, New York, in the 1840s, African American teenager William Henry "Juba" Lane works hard to achieve his dream of becoming a professional dancer but his real break comes when he is invited to perform in England. Based on the life of Master Juba; includes historical note.
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
These fifty-four poems, all in different voices but written by one hand, do sing. They make a joyful noise as the author honors the people-the nurses, students, soldiers, and ministers-of his beloved hometown, Harlem. Worship with Deacon Allen, who loves "a shouting church," and study with Lois Smith, who wants "a school named after me." Don't get taken by Sweet Sam DuPree, who "conned a shark right outta his fin." And never turn your back on Delia...
20) Street love
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
This story told in free verse is set against a background of street gangs and poverty in Harlem in which seventeen-year-old African American Damien takes a bold step to ensure that he and his new love will not be separated.