Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff [Paperback]

Walter Dean Myers (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Francis (soon to be nicknamed Stuff) doesn’t know anyone when he first moves to 116th Street in Harlem. But all that changes when he meets Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Gloria. Stuff and the gang grow close that eventful year, and nothing is ever quite the same. It’s the year modern science gets them all in jail, Stuff falls in love and is unfaithful, and Cool Clyde and Fast Sam win the dance contest—almost. In this lively and funny book, Walter Dean Myers brings to life with tenderness and good humor a group of kids who together grow to know the meaning of friendship.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Alternately funny [and] sad, but always very natural and appealing. (School Library Journal)

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (April 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140326138
• ISBN-13: 978-0140326130
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #521,561 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twenty one years later, I still remember it., October 15, 2004

By 

Denise (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff (Paperback)

Back in the early 80s, when I was having a hard time reading and nothing could keep my interest, I found this book in a used book store. Something about it caught my attention. I read it and fell in love with the characters. It helped create a love for reading that I never thought I'd have. I never forgot the title and have been meaning to get myself and my niece a copy of it for a while. I'm thrilled that I've found it and I highly recommend it to any young reader.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fat Albert with an edge, November 20, 2002

By 

Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff (Paperback)

I read this book as a child in the seventies and enjoyed it at the time. Still hold up good nearly three decades later. This portrayal of ghetto life in the 70s among young people is about as accurate as it was funny. Kinda reminds you of a preteen "Cooley High" or Fat Albert with an edge, as these kids deal with realistic problems of drugs, sex, and violence. Overall, a good example of the resilience of young people without getting overly downbeat.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Different From Book From My Time, January 24, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff (Hardcover)

This book takes place in New York City were you can get put in jail for just giving a lady back here purse; Strange? Fast Sam Cool Clyde and Stuff is by Walter Dean Myers and it's a good book to read. This book is about some neiborhood friends in the seventies dealing with different issue during there life. Before you read the first chapter, read the prologue because it tells how the friends met, how Stuff moved there on 116th st, Stuffs real name, and how Stuff got his name. I know you don't know who Stuff is but he's the narrator and the main character of this book.
Fast Sam Cool Clyde and Stuff is a good book because it makes you laugh out loud because Walter Dean Myers wrote this book for children of all ages to read. You should read this book because it can teach you something you did not know before that is the same since the seventies. The book is about a neiborhood friends growing up and learning different things.