Customer Reviews

Bad Boy: A Memoir

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2 star:		(1)
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This is a straightforward and workmanlike autobiography by a prolific writer of works for young readers, and is probably best for kids as young as eight through young teens. Myers' voice is calm and reflective. He has looked back on the vanished world of his 1940's and 50's Harlem childhood and adolescence with a deceptive calmness, and a pleasing recall of detail. School, friends, teachers, family life, community life, and (not insignificantly to Myers, a voracious reader) the covers and contents of pulp novels and magazines, as seen through a child's eyes - are all here.

Some of the more disturbing facts of his young life are reported on in a deadpan manner that at first seems almost flat. In one emblematic incident, a well-meaning teacher asks him his career plans, and upon hearing that Myers hopes to become a lawyer, flat-out tells him he can't, since he has a speech defect.

Myers made trouble, and he matter-of-factly tells why. Kids will appreciate his thoughtful explanations and self-understanding. But Myers was also a reader - not just for escape, but for the love of literature- and he lets us in that that process (and its consequences to his social life), too.

The chapters "Bad Boy," "I Am Not the Center of the Universe," and "Stuyvesant High" are particularly useful for their descriptions of important and formative experiences.

This is a story that is told humbly. It lacks melodrama not because Myers' early life was dull, but because Myers is a quiet writer; he trusts himself and his legions of young readers. He invites them in this quiet memoir to enter his quite remarkable experiences - and to form their own opinions. I enjoyed this sensitive (but not humorless) story very much, and came away with renewed interest and respect for its author.

Completely worthwhile.

The book Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers is a memoir of the author's life. Set mostly in Harlem, the book follows Myers' troublesome childhood and the challenges he faced with his family life, his adoption, and his behavior. Though a bright child, he had a quick temper and a speech problem. This got him into many bad situations and unfortunately partly led to his "downfall" in school.
In Bad Boy, I loved how the setting of the book is in Harlem, where I have visited many times. I am familiar with many of the places he "relaxed" in and feel connected to him somehow. The book is wonderfully written and shows that in the end, even a "troubled" boy can succeed. The author was adopted by Herbert and Florence Myers and many times talks about his and biological and natural families in the book. He gets the Dean in his name from his biological father and the Myers in his name from his adoptive father. The book shows the world of poverty, something that I am not acquainted with at all. It showed me that everyone does not have the things that us "middle class" kids have. All in all, he was raised in a bad situation, but turned out good in the end. In a teenager's view, parents are wrong. Period. In reality, they are only wrong sometimes, not all the time, or, just don't understand. In the end of the book on page 205, his father says, "You wrote stories when you were a boy. You're a man, now." This shows that his father didn't understand his passion for writing, and thought that writing was not "man's work".
I believe there were many small themes in the book. Bad Boy highlighted racism, teenage hood, and poverty just to name a few. As an African American teenager, I have experienced some, but not all of the things he has. I think that the main theme of the book is misunderstanding. When he spent all his time reading and writing his mother didn't understand him. When he skipped school, no one really understood him and he was sent to a social worker. Racism is product of misunderstanding. Even now, I don't understand why he skipped school, but then again, I haven't been adopted, or live in Harlem, or have a passion for reading. I have not walked in his shoes. That is one of the reasons I read this book, so that I could see what his life was like. So that I could enter an unfortunate teenager's life and realize that I am truly blessed.
All in all, this book is one of the best books I have read. I would recommend it too anyone in the hallway at school, or passers by on the sidewalk. His writings are geared toward children and teenagers, so it is a more appealing book to that group than to adults, but adults should read this too. Maybe they can venture into the life of a teenager, or a child in poverty. Maybe they can remember their childhood and how the world was so different then.
A lot can be learned from this book, but I think that the most important thing is the acceptance of ideas and others.

Having written short biographies of Malcolm X and other public figures, Myers recounts his own experience growing up in Harlem in the 1940's-60's. Myers apparently missed the turmoil facing the African-American community in Harlem during the time of Malcolm X. It is a soft spoken voice with which he describes his experiences and conflicts.

The author describes his high school experience in a mostly white school; his athletic ability and love of basketball which helped him be accepted to some degree; and the frustration over the conviction that he was intelligent yet not able to earn the grades he knew he should. He divided all his spare time between playing basketball, reading for pleasure and writing-he would disappear for hours into the worlds his favorite authors created and/or trying to produce poems in the style of the various poets he was reading.

The beauty of this memoir is that Myers not only relates his own experience, his own frustrations, his opportunities and disadvantages, but he describes his growing love for literature, from reading pop romance novels aloud to his mother and sneaking comic books, through Nordic fairytales. Later he was introduced to higher quality literature by teachers who took an interest in him; they introduced him to Camus and de Balzac and Shakespeare, and a wide variety of other authors. Myers eventually became aware of the legacy of Langston Hughes and James Baldwin and other black writers, although he did not know about them until much later.

Myers' story should inspire young adults of teenage to pursue their interests, even if their friends do not understand them.
Hearing Myers' experiences related on audio brings them alive.

Actor Joe Morton (who also read an excellent version of Monster on tape) gives the teenage Walter Dean Myers a voice.

You know a book is really good when you read a page, paragraph or sentence and you just have to find someone to share it with! I found many of these moving moments in Myers' Bad Boy. The author pours his feelings and experiences over you with words that are easy to taste and absorb. His conflicts are both unique and universal as he describes the confusion about his place in the world, racial identity and love for the written word. The repetition of parts of the story in successive chapters was a little annoying sometimes. But this story of struggle and success is a great one for teens and adults, alike.
Buy it!! Read it!!

I am a former elementary teacher and school librarian who has been reading Walter Dean Myers books for years. In his usual conversational manner Walter Dean Myers writes about his journey to become one of the best, most respected, and award-winning children's book writers. He explains his struggles growing up in Harlem, NY, and how certain people in his life had positive effects to motivate him to become a writer. However, along the way he never thought he could earn a living from writing or become a famous writer for children, mainly boys. Probably the biggest motivation in Walter's life was READING an assortment of FICTION and NONFICTION books, so that he knew there could be a life for him beyond the difficult life he was experiencing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and his in-depth evaluations about where he had come from and what he needed to do to succeed. This INSPIRATIONAL book should be published in hardcover and be in every elementary, middle-school, and high school library for librarians to give to kids who are struggling through hardships within their family and at school. Kids will learn to never give up, because EVERY ONE of THEM can succeed in life. After all Walter Dean Myer did not finish high school. But he did what one teacher advised him to do, and that was to "NEVER STOP WRITING." As Walter said on page 200 of BAD BOY, "My reading ability led me to books, which led me to ideas, which led me to more books and more ideas. The slow dance through the ideas led me to writing." However, Walter's becoming a writer could also lead SAM, TANISHA, JUSTIN, CHELSEA, EUGENE, LA TOYA, ALBERT, KRISSY, and BARACK to become an attorney, doctor, vetrinarian, mechanic, builder, successful businessman, or president of the United States, Liberia, or another country! Our kids need encouragement and BOOKS, especially biographies and autobiographies, not criticism and punishment for minor offenses. Everyone read BAD BOY! And publish this book in hard cover for school and public librarians to purchase to withstand constant circulation. Karen McWilliams, children's book author

The book Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers is an extraordinarily moving book. It was funny, heartbreaking, and unforgettable. When I started reading it, I just couldn't put this gripping and suspenseful memoir down.

It took place in the 1940's and 1950's in Harlem, and it was about Walter Dean Myers's childhood. When he was a child, he had trouble with his poor speech. An example from the book would be this quote when he was in first grade. " `Dabba! Dabba! Dabba!' Manuel Bonilla taunted me, standing inches from my face and mimicking my poor speech as the rest of the class watched. `Dabba! Dabba! Dabba!'" Along with Walter's poor speech, he also had times when he beat people up, but for a good reason of course. An example of this would be " Manuel stopped the `dabba- dabba- dabba' when I hit him in the face. `Is he dead?' someone asked. Of course Manuel wasn't anywhere near dead, but that didn't stop Mrs. Bower from sending me directly to the principal's office." As you can see, Walter spent a lot of his time in the principal's office.

Myers was a "Bad Boy" but it wasn't until he threw a book at his teacher, till he had something to hide. After he threw his book at his teacher, he was forced to sit in a desk at the far corner of the room and start reading another book. This book was called East 'O The Sun And West 'O The Moon, and it was full of wonderful fairytales. After reading it for a little bit, he was allowed during the weekends, to take the book home and read it. That is how he became an avid reader. He uses this skill of reading to help improve his speaking throughout the book. In addition to loving reading, he also became a great writer.

I truly recommend this book if you like books with all kinds of suspenseful action going around. If you like books that have good morals, and help people learn lessons, then this is the book for you.

Bad Boy Book Review

"Walter, go directly to the principals office!" Not again. In the book Bad Boy Walter Dean Myers writes about his life in Harlem, New York. He is a high school drop-out. He is very smart and loves to read and write poems and stories. I enjoyed this book very much because it shows life was like for African Americans in the 1940s and 1950s.
In this story the setting is very important. Walter lives in New York City. The part of his life that you will read about in Bad Boy is in the 1940s and 1950s, during World War 2. He is about 15 or 16 years old. Walter goes to Stuyvesant High school. Sometimes instead of going to school, Walter wanders off into Central park where he reads and writes all day until he has to go home.
In this book there are many interesting characters. First of all there is Walters's mom and dad, which he was never really close to. Eric was Walters's best friend in middle school. One day Walter saves a guy named Frank who was being beat up by a gang. They become best friends. At his high school his counselor tells him to go to a psychologist. The psychologists name is Dr. Holiday.
The themes in the book make it very realistic. Frank shares all of his secrets with Walter which shows how trustworthy Walter is. This story is sometimes depressing because Walter gets picked on a lot by other kids because of his speech problem. Walter is extremely loyal to Frank. He is also brave because sometimes he gets into fights with 3 or 4 people against only him!
This book teaches you that there is no difference what color you are. It also shows you how black people lived and worked and lived compared to white people. Back then white people got all the good jobs in the city, and black people got all the low paying jobs. This book is a good example of how life was like back then in Harlem, New York. It is also a good example of loyalty, trust, and bravery. I enjoyed Bad Boy very much and I hope you will too.

When i first read this book i realy injoyed it i would like to tell other kids that after you read this book you will see your life in another way . When Walther wrote this book he wasn't only thinking about him but about kids who are living the same or almost the same as his life was when he was young. Many of the things that happened to him they kind of remind me of me . I would realy like that all of the schools could injoy what i've injoy in these pass weeks!!!

Bad boy, by Walter Dean Myers, was an enjoyable book to read. It teaches the reader a great lesson on how you should proceed trying to reach your goals no matter what the world thinks of you. Walter as a young boy grew up in the streets of Harlem were he played ball and was attached to his church. But as he started to grow up he realized his passion for writing. He was a student at Stuyvesant high where his years were troublesome. Although he had a speech disability that interfered with his reading it didn't affect him as a writer. Yet he still strived to complete his best. He did so by reading the work of other great writers like Anatole France, Thomas Mann and Balzac and comparing their work to his. But his passion for books soon lead him to the mistake of dropping school several times so he could read all day. Since Walter grew up in poverty he wouldn't have a chance to attend a college. So with that on his shoulders he realizes he will probably end up with a job like his fathers. The fact that Walter didn't socialize as much as others the streets lead him to hazarders encounters with gang members. In conclusion to the book Walter finally lives outs his dream becoming a writer of children books. Therefore achieving his goal of becoming a well respected author in which his writing touches the hearts of millions.

Walter Dean Myers did a great job with the book "Bad Boy." His description is really good with his own character. He shows how much how much effort he put in his whole life and how great he has become. He was known as the tough kid because he fought many kids. He never gave up though. Even after struggling in school, he really liked to read. He always put the booked he got from the library, in a brown paper bag because he didn't want anyone to tease him for that. The book also explains how he grew up in Harlem. He tells you all his problems he had with great description. His family also had a financial problem which made his life harder. This book even teaches you of courage. It shows how much courage Walter Dean Myers had to lie to his parents, and making wrong choices by fighting in school.