Category Archives: Walter Dean Myers

Monster

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Steve knows the best time to cry is when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help. In Manhattan Detention Center, he’s scared all the time. In jail, even strangers find reasons to hurt each other.

He’s on trial for murder, though he never touched the gun. He is charged with being the lookout while Mr. King robbed the store. But really, he stands accused of being a Monster.

Over and over he writes the word. Monster. His defense attorney finally pulls the pencil from his hand. If he acts guilty in front of the jury, there’s no way out for him. He’s black, he’s young, and he’s on trial. In the eyes of many of the jury, he’s guilty until proven innocent.

The finger of blame comes from a dope dealer who’s already served time for manslaughter. He was with King at the shooting. The two left the body and went out for fried chicken and soda. Hoping for a lighter sentence, the heartless dealer’s only too ready to make a deal by piling blame on Steve. The prosecutor makes her pronouncement: All are equally guilty.

Steve paces his cell, waiting for the verdict.  Like everyone around him, he wants his life back again.

Walter Dean Myers paints a graphic picture of what it’s like to be in jail as a black youth. Suspected of horrible crimes, Steve has no real way to defend himself from all the accusations, spoken and unspoken. Almost everyone who means anything to him turns away, some with tears in their eyes. What’s left to believe in when hope is gone?

Monster drives you to think about all the tomorrows of your own life, and the tomorrows of the men charged with crimes they may not have committed. In the end, we’re left wondering who’s actually guilty.

Walter Dean Myers was a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and a shining light in the lives of many. Find out more about him at walterdeanmyers.net.

–Kate Calina

On A Clear Day

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Sturmers hate everybody. In the year 2035, they prowl the street, selling death to those with the most cash. In the Bronx, they’re the visible enemy, shooting at the gates of protected communities. But who commands real power? What hidden forces slaughter thousands in India, or raze an entire African village?

In Dahlia Grillo’s world, strands of barbed wire replace the places of fragile joy where kids used to play.  Those with money bar themselves behind gates. Fifty kids can shoot a thousand, armed with automatic weapons. People in the streets are terrified of every other human being. All the schools are shut down. Permanently.

Enter Michael Gullickson, former band leader. He sees everyone living on the edge of despair. He’s all about bringing people together and creating something. He dreams of forming a group smart enough to take on the global corporations that really rule the planet in this urban dystopia.

On the thin hope that she might make a difference in a violent world, Dahlia joins Michael’s dysfunctional team.  In the streets of Miami, bullets blast through the barricades, leaving her reeling on the edge of her idealism. What words give any meaning to the raw brutality on every side?

Walter Dean Myers has earned every award in children’s literature. Taking responsibility is a central theme for him. On A Clear Day casts light into gritty streets and broken neighborhoods, squarely confronting tomorrow’s problems—today.

–Kate Calina