Walter Dean Myers: United States Author

I write books for the troubled boy I once was, and for the boy who lives within me still.

Walter Dean Myers

Walter Dean Myers uses his own life experiences growing up in Harlem, New York in the 1940s and 1950s as the background for his writing. Raised in a foster home, he often displayed aggressive behavior in response to being teased about his speech impediment. His writing career was launched at the age of nine when a teacher suggested that he write to express himself. He began writing poems and short stories and discovered solace in books. Writing not only helped Myers to overcome his speech problems, but it proved to be a way of establishing his understanding of humanity in a culture that often failed the less fortunate. He expains, "I want to humanize the people I depict. I want to show them struggling, yes. To show them living within their own cultural heritage, yes. But even more, I want to show them in the universal setting for love and meaning that we all experience."

Myers' life experiences - time spent in inner-city playgrounds, classrooms, youth detention centers, and prisons - provide a legitimate perspective on many of the issues facing today's youth. By exploring the decisions and the values of today's young people, Myers' urban novels help readers to examine their inner selves and offer a sense of hope and dignity to young readers.

Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award, was also a National Book Award Finalist and a New York Times best seller. Written in 1999, it alternates between traditional narrative, journal entries, and a film script as the sixteen-year-old protagonist writes a screenplay depicting his life in prison while awaiting trial for his role in an armed robbery.

In his attempt to combat negative attitudes and stereotypes, Walter Dean Myers has produced an extraordinary body of work that includes picture books, poetry, screenplays, historical fiction, and factual books that depict the beauty, the struggle and the pride of the African American people and culture. His books have been translated into many languages, and he is the winner of numerous awards including the Coretta Scott King Award (more times than any author in the history of the award), the first Michael L. Printz Award, two Newbery Medal Honor Book Awards, and two nominations for the National Book Award.