145th Street: Short Stories [Hardcover]

Walter Dean Myers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2007

A salty, wrenchingly honest collection of stories set on one block of 145th Street. We get to know the oldest resident; the cop on the beat; fine Peaches and her girl, Squeezie; Monkeyman; and Benny, a fighter on the way to a knockout. We meet Angela, who starts having prophetic dreams after her father is killed; Kitty, whose love for Mack pulls him back from the brink; and Big Joe, who wants a bang-up funeral while he's still around to enjoy it. Some of these stories are private, and some are the ones behind the headlines. In each one, characters jump off the page and pull readers right into the mix on 1-4-5.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"That's what 145th Street is like. Something funny happens... and then something bad happens. It's almost as if the block is reminding itself that life is hard, and you have to take it seriously." Walter Dean Myers's book of interconnected short stories is a sweet and sour mix of the comedy and tragedy of the human condition, played out against the backdrop of the Harlem neighborhood that is centered around 145th Street. In this 'hood, teens will become acquainted with the mysterious 12-year-old Angela, whose sad dreams seem to predict the future for an unlucky few, and the fast-talking Jamie Farrell, a smooth basketball player who's praying that his streak of good luck doesn't end before he can ask out Celia Evora, "the finest chick in the school." They will chuckle at the affable Big Joe, who wants to enjoy his funeral party while he's still alive, yet feel their hearts tighten when Big Time Henson senses his drug addiction drawing him closer and closer to an early grave.

Myers frankly discusses the consequences of violence, drive-bys and gang war through his articulate characters, but tempers these episodes with such a love of his fictional community that every character shines through with the hope and strength of a survivor. Changing his point of view from teen to adult and back again through each vignette, Myers successfully builds a bridge of understanding between adolescents and adults that will help each group better understand the problems of the other. A worthy and recommended read that beautifully illustrates the good that can come out of a community that stands together. Newbery Honor-winning Myers has written more than 50 books, including Monster and Fallen Angels. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

From Publishers Weekly

In a kind of literary Rear Window, Myers (The Blues of Flats Brown, reviewed above) uses 10 short stories to create snapshots of a pulsing, vibrant community with diverse ethnic threads, through all of its ups and downs. Beginning with the tale of a wry character who stages his own funeral on a sweltering 4th of July to celebrate the money he has received from canceling his life insurance policy, Myers then follows with a chilling story of a cop shootout gone wrong. Many of the stories are told through the voices of witty, intelligent teens; Jamie Farrell, in particular, is a standout as he relates his changing luck in "The Streak" and makes other cameo appearances. But even the more poignant stories told in the third person--such as that of Billy Giles, a middling fighter hired by the local gym to make contenders look good, and "Angela's Eyes," infused with superstition, in which Angela possesses the ability to foresee death and destruction through her late father's eyes--keep an inviting, conversational tone. Myers creates an overall effect of sitting on the front stoop swapping stories of the neighborhood. Most readers will find that they could settle in for hours and take it all in. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (September 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385321376
• ISBN-13: 978-0385321372
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,119,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Walter Dean Myers is a New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author who has garnered much respect and admiration for his fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people. Winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award, he is considered one of the preeminent writers for children. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Stories Spun by an Author with a Natural Voice, April 9, 2000

By 

Dave Spiteri - See all my reviews

This review is from: 145th Street: Short Stories (Hardcover)

Walter Dean Myers' collection of short stories focuses on the inhabitants of "145th Street" in Harlem. Each story is well-crafted and geared to readers 12 and up; Delacorte Press is the children's branch of Random House Publishers. However, this volume is fine reading for adults as well as children.

The stories share characters, settings, and tone. Myers does an excellent job avoiding bad language while maintaining the vernacular and rhythms of the rich characters that he portrays. Myers has a knack for giving his characters life and credibility. Myers manages to give a sense of adult versus youth dialect in leading us through the concrete realities of Harlem.

Although characters are repeated in the stories, sometimes as background and others as key characters, each story stands on its own and may be read in any order without loss of continuity. In other words, the stories do not build on one another like chapters in a novel.

Each of the ten stories strikes a chord in the reader and "shows" rather than just "tells" you the pressures, fears, and joys of living in the "hood." Human emotion is itself a character throughout the collection and the story lines are expertly constructed to avoid being preachy while relating theme and the moral undercurrent of the human struggle with choices that must be made every day on 145th street.

I particularly enjoyed "Big Joe's Funeral" and "A Christmas Story." Big Joe is a restaurant owner and has his own particular, unique, and large view of what a funeral ought to be about. The Christmas tale delicately balances the spirit of Christmas against the desire of a policeman to separate his personal life from the harshness of the beat he walks.

Every story in this collection is interesting and entertaining. As a sampler, it has whetted my appetite for more of Walter Dean Myers' books. I highly recommend this collection for young or old readers and those who simply appreciate a good story spun by an author with a natural voice.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another coup for the amazing WD Myers, September 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: 145th Street: Short Stories (Hardcover)

So much attention has been given to Christopher Paul Curtis lately, but it seems to me the prolific work of Walter Dean Myers needs a loud cheering section--so here goes. Two customer reviews, "Another Stunning Work..." and "Good Stories Spun..." give thorough synopses of this anthology. I'll add that my middle schoolers LOVED these stories when I bought the book last spring, and I plan on reading it with my seventh graders later this year too. The stories are combinations of slick, sad, silly, and serious, and therefore one story was able to hook the kids into reading another and another. One 12 year old boy in my class was so intrigued by a character named Peaches--described as "so fine"--that he paid attention to everything else we read from the book hoping she'd turn up again. And she did! Walter Dean Myers just has a keen sense of the world and his gift with words makes reading this, and any, book by him a pleasure.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 145th Street, June 4, 2004

By 

Megan (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 145th Street: Short Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

In the book 145th Street Short Stories by Walter Dean Myers he talks about all things that happen in this street. There are some gansters but best of all some great friends that are always there when you need them. In this book you will meet some teenagers that are faced with hard decisions.

WhatI liked about the book was how the author used descriptive language ,I can vizualize and connect. I like almost all of the stories because its like you learn lesson from the story.In this book I connected a lot but I learned three lessons for life.

I recommend this book to anyone that is in 5th grade and up, but I think its more of a middle school book.In this book you will learn some new things. Read on to discover a book that has some interesting stories or experiences.