Walter Dean Myers
1) Monster
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
2) Riot
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
In 1863, fifteen-year-old Claire, the daughter of an Irish mother and a black father, faces ugly truths and great danger when Irish immigrants, enraged by the Civil War and a federal draft, lash out against blacks and wealthy "swells" of New York City.
3) Scorpions
Author
Language
English
Description
After reluctantly taking on the leadership of the Harlem gang, the Scorpions, Jamal finds that his enemies treat him with respect when he acquires a gun--until a tragedy occurs. The story of twelve-year-old Jamal, whose life changes drastically when he acquires a gun. Though he survives the experience, it's not without sacrificing his innocence and possibly his relationship with his best friend.
4) Dope sick
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Seeing no way out of his difficult life in Harlem, seventeen-year-old Jeremy "Lil J" Dance flees into a house after a drug deal goes awry and meets a weird man who shows different turning points in Lil J's life when he could have made better choices.
9) Juba!
Author
Publication Date
[2015]
Language
English
Description
In Five Points, New York, in the 1840s, African American teenager William Henry "Juba" Lane works hard to achieve his dream of becoming a professional dancer but his real break comes when he is invited to perform in England. Based on the life of Master Juba; includes historical note.
10) Looking like me
Author
Series
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Jeremy sets out to discover all of the different "people" that make him who he is, including brother, son, writer, and runner.
Author
Publisher
Harper, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
Publication Date
[2017]
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Black Authors: Youth Biographies (SCPL-YS)
Black History Month - ROD Children's
OBD Black History Month (February) - YOUTH
Black History Month - ROD Children's
OBD Black History Month (February) - YOUTH
Description
Frederick Douglass was a self-educated slave in the South who grew up to become an icon. He was a leader of the abolitionist movement, a celebrated writer, an esteemed speaker, and a social reformer, proving that, as he said, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free."
13) Slam!
Author
Language
English
Description
17-year-old Greg "Slam" Harris tells of the year in which he transfers to a magnet school for the arts, a more academically challenging, mostly white school. After being the hot shot star of his Harlem high school team, he has to learn to fit in and be a team player at his new school. He may not be able to do anything about the rest of his life--his relationships with his family and friends, his grandmother's illness, his scholastic difficulties,...
14) Kick
Author
Publisher
HarperTeen
Publication Date
2011.
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Told in their separate voices, thirteen-year-old soccer star Kevin and police sergeant Brown, who knew his father, try to keep Kevin out of juvenile hall after he is arrested on very serious charges.
15) Hoops
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Few men in American history are as controversial as Malcolm X. In this provocative biography, Myers, winner of a Newbery Honor and four-time Coretta Scott King Award winner, presents a forthright portrait of a complex man whose life reflected the major events of our times.
19) Jazz
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Illustrations and rhyming text celebrate the roots of jazz music.
20) Game
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
If Harlem high school senior Drew Lawson is going to realize his dream of playing college, then professional, basketball, he will have to improve at being coached and being a team player, especially after a new--white--student threatens to take the scouts' attention away from him.



