CHILDREN'S
Released: May 1, 2011
"Stunning. (Picture book/poetry. 8 & up)"
The Myers team shares their heartfelt and stirring vision of an America flawed but filled with promises and dreams.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: April 26, 2011
"A perfect match with Jen Bryant's The Fortune of Carmen Navarro (2010), a prose refresh of the same classic tale, and a great choice for high-school theater productions. (Drama. 13 & up)"
As he did with Swan Lake in Amiri & Odette (2009), Myers takes a classic story and gives it a new twist and fresh voice.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2011
The police spot a Ford Taurus with no headlights on weaving down a street, and when the officer puts his lights on, the driver of the Ford brakes, speeds up and drives into a light pole.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Aug. 1, 2010
"A serious issue and a group of smart, likable protagonists make this an enjoyable inaugural volume, and readers will look forward to further tales of Zander and his friends as they navigate the high seas—or Cs, in Zander's case—of middle-school life. (Fiction. 9-13)"
In the first volume of a planned quartet, Myers introduces eighth graders Zander, LaShonda, Bobbi and Kambui, students at Da Vinci Academy, a middle school for the gifted and talented in Harlem, and staff of The Cruiser, an alternative to the school newspaper.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2010
"He offers no easy answers, but roots salvation in a few helping hands along the way and in personal moral decisions; Reese comes to realize that home and the streets are not where it's at: "I know I got to start with me." (Fiction. 12 & up)"
Fourteen-year-old Reese Anderson has already spent 22 months at the oxymoronically named Progress Center, and his prison world is delineated in painstaking detail—eternal stasis, a non-life, ever vulnerable to random violence and the threat of detention, added time and being sent upstate.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2010
"Despite its arresting visuals, it does not replace other such treatments as Jim Haskins's Champion, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (2002), or Tonya Bolden's The Champ, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (2004). (Picture book/biography. 5-8)"
Muhammad Ali's life story is interwoven with significant historical events of the latter half of the 20th century—the American civil-rights movement, the war in Vietnam and the growth of the Nation of Islam—and Myers shows how he used his star status to make the case for the rights of African-Americans, conscientious objection and religious freedom as well as boosting his own athleticism.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 13, 2009
"This vibrant synthesis of poetry and pictures is a natural for classrooms and family sharing. (Picture book. 4-8)"
The Myerses—father and son—reunite for a poetic celebration of self that blends a sort of Whitman-esque hip-hop with '70s-vibe visuals.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 22, 2009
"Another innovative work by an author constantly stretching the boundaries of what fiction can be, and a natural for readers' theater in the classroom. (Historical fiction. 11 & up)"
In a screenplay format similar to his groundbreaking Monster (2000), Myers tells the story of the Civil War Draft Riots in New York City.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2009
"In his most recent urban young adult title since Street Love (2007), Myers delivers a solid tale, but misses the nuances. (Fiction. YA)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2009
"His Odette is truly luminous. (Picture book/poetry. 12 & up)"
The acclaimed author uproots the 19th-century classical ballet Swan Lake from its enchanted world of mist-filled lakes and palaces and plunks it solidly down into the dark, danger-filled Swan Lake Projects.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 2008
"The design sets the staunch advocate's quotations off from Myers's accessible account, printing them in a typeface as bold as their speaker. (Picture book/biography. 7-10)"
In spite of adversity, or because of it, Ida B. Wells served as a catalyst in the civil-rights movement.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 1, 2008
"Robin's eventual understanding that his experience was not about winning or losing the war but about "reaching for the highest idea of life" makes this a worthy successor to Myers's Coretta Scott King Award–winning classic. (Fiction. 12+)"
In 2003, in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, young Robin Perry already wonders about "an enemy we can't identify and friends we're not sure about."
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2008
"A good match with Myers's Monster (1999) and Slam (1996). (Fiction. 11+)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 11, 2007
"Gently told, beautifully modulated, these stories go straight to the heart. (Short stories. YA)"
A companion cycle to 145th Street: Short Stories (2000) examines love in its many forms in one Harlem neighborhood.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 1, 2007
"Peppered with hilarious dialogue and serving up an exuberant meld of fact and fiction, this works equally well as a stellar addition to the Harlem Renaissance curriculum and a just-for-fun read. (Historical fiction. 12-16)"
Set in 1925 New York, this tour de force features walk-ons by a bevy of Harlem Renaissance notables.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 31, 2006
"This quasi-Romeo and Juliet will easily find its place alongside Sharon Mills Draper's Romiette and Julio (1999), Myers's short story, "Kitty and Mack: a Love Story," West Side Story and of course, the Shakespearean play itself. (Fiction. YA)"
Adult and young-adult aficionados of Myers's work will find this new offering revisits issues close to the author's heart: place (Harlem with all its love and squalor), race and the court system (you've got trouble if you're black and poor and in front of a judge), values for boys of color (street crime or achievement) and love of the community.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 30, 2006
"This offering stands as a welcome addition to the literature of jazz: In a genre all too often done poorly for children, it stands out as one of the few excellent treatments. (Picture book/poetry. 8+)"
A cycle of 15 poems and vivid, expressive paintings celebrate that most American genre of music: jazz.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Aug. 1, 2005
"Though the story is starkly realistic, there is always hope in the gifts of Jesse the artist and C. J. the musician, of schools and churches and of caring parents. (Fiction. 12+)"
Jesse and his friend C.J. are trying to come to terms with "the violence that blows through our community like the winds of winter."
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2005
"The whole reads like a second draft, with clunky transitions and a diffusion of focus that drag down what could have been an enormously inspiring tale. (Nonfiction. 9-12)"
A history of Harlem's all-black regiment and its exploits in France during the Great War is marred by uneven storytelling and inadequate documentation.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 2004
"Sure to be a classic. (Poetry. 12+)"
In this Whitman-esque ode to time and the city, the "crazy quilt patterns" of Harlem are reflected in the voices of the neighborhood's "big-time people and its struggling folk," of little girls and blind old veterans, poets and mechanics, boxers and nannies, ballplayers and blues singers, laborers and jazz artists.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 2004
"A worthy introduction to a fascinating subject. (timeline, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 9-14)"
A solid history of Antarctic exploration takes readers from the times when it was known simply as Terra Australis Incognita to the present—and beyond.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: June 15, 2004
"Still, this readable, well-deserved tribute to a recently restored national treasure, currently docked in Baltimore, will reach a wider audience than the locally published profiles currently available. (Nonfiction. 10-12)"
The Constellation hasn't received the press accorded the Constitution, "Old Ironsides," but it was built at the same time (though broken up and rebuilt just prior to the Civil War), and also has a long, successful history in battle, as a hunter of slave ships, and as a training vessel.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 1, 2004
"Though the volume is not as effective in its innovative format as Myers's Monster (1999), the subject matter, as current as today's headlines, will attract readers. (Fiction. YA)"
When a shooting occurs at Madison High with two students killed and six injured, investigators try to get to the heart of the tragedy in hopes of preventing further occurrences.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2004
"Doreen Rappaport's Martin's Big Words (2002). (Picture book/biography. 5-8)"
Following up their portrait of Malcolm X (2000), Myers briefly traces Dr. King's career, and Jenkins adds kaleidoscopic collages that both depict major incidents and figures of the Civil Rights movement, and capture the time's turmoil. Dr. King certainly doesn't lack for biographers, but Myers is unusually even-handed, highlighting King's nonviolent philosophy while viewing the Movement's angrier, more violent outbursts with a certain degree of—not sympathy, exactly, but understanding.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 1, 2003
"If there are no magicians waving helpful wands, at least there's the possibility of hope, promise, and belief "in a heart that sees beauty and a soul that prays for love." (Fiction. YA)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: June 1, 2003
"Moses's dreams offer no easy solutions to David's problems, but they become part of him, add to his knowledge, strength, and understanding, and nudge him toward a renewed relationship with his father and an appreciation of the danger and the magic of Harlem. (Fiction. 10+)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: March 15, 2003
"Children will see both replies in the pictures and in the sweet dark rhythm of the words. (Picture book. 6-11)"
A powerful union of text and image transmutes itself into a work of art—and it explains what the blues is, besides.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Aug. 1, 2002
"This, alas, cannot possibly be what they are hoping to get. (Fiction. 7-10)"
A turgid animal fantasy features Spanish cat musketeers crossing swords with thuggish dog invaders.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 1, 2002
"Not exactly a fun read, but highly effective and very important. (Picture book. 8-12)"
Myers returns to the setting of his award-winning Fallen Angels (1988) with a stunning, unsettling picture book that attempts to put the reader into the heart and mind of an American soldier in Vietnam.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 1, 2002
"Although compositionally flawed, this has such important things to say to adolescent boys that it deserves a wide audience. (Fiction. 10-15)"
In a self-help treatise in the guise of a novel, Myers's (Bad Boy, 2001, etc.) passion and concern for adolescent boys infuses the material and gives it a heartfelt urgency.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 31, 2001
"Myers is arguably one of the most important writers of children's books of our age, however, and this glimpse into his own childhood is wonderfully valuable, fascinating, and even inspiring. (Autobiography. 12+)"
Catalogues of books alternate with battles against educational authorities in this memoir from one of the deans of young-adult literature.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: April 1, 2001
"Rich historical context, fully realized characters, great baseball action, and trademark Myers humor combine to make this one a homerun. (Fiction. 9-14)"
Biddy Owens, 17, "equipment manager, scorekeeper, errand boy, and sometimes right fielder" for the Birmingham Black Barons, narrates in diary form the twilight time of the Negro Leagues.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2001
A fascinating and fast-paced biography weaves together the remarkable career of fighter Muhammad Ali with the political movements of the '60s and '70s.
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ADULT
Released: Feb. 1, 2000
ADULT
Released: Jan. 31, 2000
"What emerges most clearly is a portrait of a complex, compelling spokesman who was growing and changing up to the moment he was cut down. (Picture book/biography. 6-8)"
With but a light sprinkling of names and dates, Myers condenses his Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (1993) to picture- book length.
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ADULT
Released: May 31, 1999
In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty's Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day's action.
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ADULT
Released: April 1, 1999
"The hallmarks of Myers's work—thorough research and solid writing—are evident here. (Fiction. 8-14)"
The teenage son of a former slave joins a cattle drive from Texas to Abilene, Kansas, in an entry in the My Name is America series.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 1999
"This solidly researched biography will enthrall readers, and ranks among Myers's best writing. (Biography. 11-13)"
Working from a packet of letters found in a London bookshop, Myers reconstructs the life of one Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a child of royal African descent who was rescued by a British sea captain from a sacrificial rite in Dahomey, became a goddaughter of Queen Victoria, and grew up in a succession of upper middle-class households.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: April 30, 1998
Myers (Brown Angels, 1993; Glorious Angels, 1995; etc.) has gathered another collection of vintage photographs of African-American mothers and children, with a few fathers thrown into the mix, and a good number of solo shots of babies, young gentlemen, and young ladies.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 1997
"Put this on the shelf next to Chris Raschka's Charlie Parker Played Be-Bop (1992) and see if anyone can sit still when the book is read aloud. (Picture book. 5+)"
A hot new artist and his distinguished father fashion a picture book with a stirring sound at its center.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 1996
"Persuasive. (Fiction. 12-15)"
A Harlem teenager learns how to apply the will he has to win at hoops to other parts of his life in this vivid, fluent story from Myers (Toussaint L'Ouverture, p. 1472, etc.).
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 1, 1996
"Myers makes the story accessible, underplaying the text in light of the expressive paintings. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-8)"
Myers (Glorious Angels, 1995, etc.), inspired by a series of 1930s paintings by Lawrence, pens a straightforward narrative, subtitled "The Fight for Haiti's Freedom," about the freedom fighter Toussaint L'Ouverture.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 1995
"Other fantasies in which verisimilitude is a low priority, such as Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993) or Gregory Maguire's I Feel Like The Morning Star (1989), compensate with passionate messages; here the lessons are buried beneath indifferent storytelling. (Fiction. 10-14)"
In a lackluster fantasy set generations after a meteorite's fall, Jon, Lin, and Kyra escape a besieged city and hope for a fresh start in their Ancient Land.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 30, 1995
"A gilt lily. (Picture book. 4-10)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: May 30, 1995
"Bryan's hyperbright illustrations cannot hold interest in the wake of the overbearing text; the designwork that appears among the pages comes across as unrelated, forgettable bijouterie. (Picture book. 6-9)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 1, 1994
"A must read for absolutely everyone. (Fiction. 10+)"
A stunning novel about the perseverance and courage of one African-American family from the author of the award-winning Somewhere in the Darkness (1992).
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 1994
"Many readers—and not just those in multiracial, big-city areas like the one depicted here—will recognize themselves in Darnell and his friends. (Fiction. 10-14)"
Darnell isn't bad, but he meets his teachers' (and his own) expectations by earning poor grades and getting into trouble for his attitude.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 30, 1993
"Sweet wondrous life to live" seems—well, sweet, it's also piquantly ironic in light of the struggles awaiting these promising, much-beloved children. (Poetry. 5+)"
Enchanting period photos of young African-Americans, which Myers collected from "dusty bins in antique shops, flea markets, auction houses, and museum collections."
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 1993
A fervent portrait of the controversial man who "put the hard edge on the [civil rights] movement" and "scared America" with his anger.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 30, 1992
"An entertaining yarn that could well introduce new readers to historical fiction. (Fiction. 10- 14)"
A popular, award-winning author takes a new tack with a comical western adventure la Sid Fleischman.
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