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

Walter Dean Myers is coming to town this week. He is a popular, and critically acclaimed, writer for young people but I had never read any of his work. I decided to start with his memoir - written primarily for teens I suspect. Myers was raised by an adoptive family in Harlem during the 1940s and 50s. He writes honestly, though not harshly, of his struggles to merge disparate identities - he was smart and loved literature and poetry in a neighborhood where being athletic and tough was a key to survival. He also liked being strong and tough and felt himself pulled in many directions. He was a seriously low achiever in a high achieving gifted high school. He loved to write - in a family where Mom couldn't begin to understand and Dad hid well his inability to read. This would be a good read for a young person in less-than-ideal circumstances.