Author at a Glance: Walter Dean Myers
- Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia
- Moved to Harlem with his foster parents at age three- wrote throughout childhood
- After graduating high school and leaving the army, he earned a BA from Empire State College.
- He wrote full time after 1977
- Won many awards including Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honors
- Dedicated himself to the education of children, parents, teachers and librarians
- Myers was the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by appointment of the Library of Congress, to raise national awareness of the importance of lifelong literacy and education
Featured Work
Monster / Walter Dean Myers ; illustrations by Christopher Myers
Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I’ll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. Monster.
Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout. Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of “the system,” cluttered with cynical authority figures and unscrupulous inmates, who will turn in anyone to shorten their own sentences. For the first time, Steve is forced to think about who he is as he faces prison, where he may spend all the tomorrows of his life.
As a way of coping with the horrific events that entangle him, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, decides to transcribe his trial into a script, just like in the movies. He writes it all down, scene by scene, the story of how his whole life was turned around in an instant. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred and his vision obscured until he can no longer tell who he is or what is the truth.
Other Works