Bad Boy: A Memoir
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
A classic memoir that's gripping, funny, and ultimately unforgettable from the bestselling former National Ambassador of Books for Young People. A strong choice for summer reading—an engaging and powerful autobiographical exploration of growing up a so-called "bad boy" in Harlem in the 1940s.
As a boy, Myers was quick-tempered and physically strong, always ready for a fight. He also read voraciously—he would check out books from the library and carry them home, hidden in brown paper bags in order to avoid other boys' teasing. He aspired to be a writer (and he eventually succeeded).
But as his hope for a successful future diminished, the values he had been taught at home, in school, and in his community seemed worthless, and he turned to the streets and to his books for comfort.
Don’t miss this memoir by New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers, one of the most important voices of our time.
Walter Dean Myers
Walter Dean Myers was the New York Times bestselling author of Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award; a former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature; and an inaugural NYC Literary Honoree. Myers received every single major award in the field of children's literature. He was the author of two Newbery Honor Books and six Coretta Scott King Awardees. He was the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults, a three-time National Book Award Finalist, as well as the first-ever recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Read more from Walter Dean Myers
Game Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monster: A Printz Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autobiography of My Dead Brother Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lockdown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monster: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scorpions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Harlem Hellfighters: When Pride Met Courage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Write: Here's How! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shooter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Darius & Twig Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5All the Right Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tags Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Handbook for Boys: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It Ain't All for Nothin' Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mouse Rap Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Get Over Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dream Bearer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Bad Boy
Related ebooks
The Boy in the Black Suit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of Jericho Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Double Dutch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scorpions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jumped Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heaven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Newbery Honor Book; National Book Award Winner) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Panic Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Genesis Begins Again Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forged by Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Was the Greatest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lockdown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ask Me No Questions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piecing Me Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Solo Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How It Went Down Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5He Said, She Said Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Right Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Slave Dancer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tears of a Tiger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Side of Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Another Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Corner Dark Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For Every One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Something to Say Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Part Last Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5November Blues Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Place Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
YA Biography & Autobiography For You
Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dead Inside: A True Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surviving the Angel of Death: The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Singing for Equality: Musicians of the Civil Rights Era Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMichelle Obama: An American Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Newbery Honor Book; National Book Award Winner) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quiet Fire: Emily Dickinson's Life and Poetry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hungry Ghost: A Collection of Poetry about Self-Harm and Self-Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElena Vanishing: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pregnancy Project: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of How to be an Antiracist: by Ibram X. Kendi - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEnchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Farewell to Manzanar Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hole in My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith (National Book Award Finalist) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Real Name is Hanna Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doomed Queen Anne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resilient Black Girl: 52 Weeks of Anti-Racist Activities for Black Joy and Resilience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSoul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Little Words: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Code Name Badass: The True Story of Virginia Hall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Bad Boy
96 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/54Q - some sentiments and descriptions are well beyond most of the YA range, although very beautifully rendered, and with a naked honesty that is deeply touching.3P - sadly, this is not likely to appeal to mainstream YA very strongly, although it really does deserve to.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Walter Dean Myers recounts what life was like growing up in Harlem, NY during the 1940's and 1950's. Appropriate for middle school and beyond.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For older students who get in trouble a lot, this autobiography by Walter Dean Myers has good lessons about rising above what you have been dealt and moving on. Boys who have been in trouble like this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This memoir is an account of Walter Dean Myers' childhood in Harlem. While this memoir may be difficult to incorporate into a middle school classroom, Myers' tales show how his inner struggles and questions helped to shape himself as a writer. The questions and confusion that he experienced as a teen, highly influenced by his own race and how he fit into the world, is one that can be translated into many teenagers lives. I think this book would be beneficial for any student who may be struggling to find his or her place in any environment. I enjoyed reading about his childhood and look forward to exploring his fiction books as well.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I am so glad to have read this book with my 6th-grade students! What honesty he exhibits about his life and struggles! I love that there is a happy ending, and it was actually quite easy for my students to arrive at a message he was communicating to them. There were parts I would not read aloud with them from Myers' teen years, but it was all part of his complete honesty about his life. Many students were so engaged in this book for its honesty and its right in your face approach to the racism Myers encountered when he grew up. Every parent should read this book and then let their middle or high school aged kids read it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Autobiography shows how Walter struggled on his way to be a men, he had to choose from right and wrong to succeed. Walter also wanted to do the best to be a good man and succeed. Walter was also a great writer, Everyone always likes to hear about a kid growing up black in Harlem, and the struggles of a family trying to do their very best to take out a good living life. Once he was disgusted of how he was living life and so then he remembered a fellow teacher back in elementary school that once told him, “Whatever you do don’t stop writing”. Walter Didn’t stop he wrote a book and then became an award winning author. I recommend this book because it shows how people lived life back then and also how little money they had to survive the hard times, I also recommend it because it shows how hard working was Walter to succeed
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5personal response: After reading about his life, particularly his early childhood, I am amazed Walter Dean Myers is still alive. He sounds like he took a lot of stupid risks as a kid. Overall, it was nice to see where he came from and how he became the person that wrote wonderful stories like Monster. When he describes his friend throwing away a stack of comic books every month I cringed. How could someone do that? I wonder what treasures were discarded.curricular connections:a must to include in an author study. reflection of mid-20th century domestic history
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An interesting memoir recounting the difficulties of growing up smart and black, both adding to his sense of alienation. Writing simple and straightforward which nonetheless left me anxiously anticipating what would happen next. Includes good depictions of Harlem in the 1940's and 50's.