A review by psal707
Bad Boy: A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers

3.0

Bad Boy is about Walter’s life as a kid. He grew up in Harlem, New York City, at a time when blacks were being segregated. As a young boy, Walter didn’t understand why people felt that the races were different, or that blacks were less than whites. Walter also had a speech impediment and other kids teased him about it.

Elementary school was hard for Walter. Although Walter’s classmates made fun of his speech problem, the teachers didn’t help him either. One of Walter’s teachers, Mrs. Conway, would sometimes tease Walter, telling him to speak up, or that she couldn’t understand him—but never actually helped him. Towards the end of the school year, Mrs. Conway told Walter to bring his mom into school with him, so she could talk with her. Walter didn’t bring his mom in the next day, so Mrs. Conway made Walter sit in the back of the room and not participate in class. She saw him reading comic books, took them away from him, and gave him a book to read, and he discovered that he loved the book.

Mr. Lasher, Walter’s fourth grade teacher, was his favorite. Not only did Mr. Lasher acknowledge Walter’s speech problems, but he made him go to a tutor once a week for the whole day. Mr. Lasher also let Walter hold the flag at graduation, and he got the award for Outstanding Boy. Walter’s mom was very proud of Walter, but Walter was still fighting his way out of his problems.
By high school, Walter wasn’t fighting anymore, but instead he was skipping school. He was also having trouble applying for college. One because he wasn’t going to school, and two because most schools didn’t accept blacks. These problems caused him to stop going to school all together. Walter also discovered that his father was illiterate, and this made Walter angry because his father had pretended he could read.

After high school, Walter goes behind his parents’ back and enlists in the army. The army recruiters were surprised by how high his test scores were, the highest anyone has gotten. Once he had been accepted, he told his parents. His father was proud of him, but his mother hated the idea. Fortunately, he survived the years he served, and he worked hard to become a successful writer.