Best Selling Books by Walter Dean MYERS

A Coretta Scott King Award winner that is more timely than ever—excellent narrative nonfiction that''s "history at its best."* Like Howard Zinn''s People''s History of the United States, Now Is Your Time! explores American history through the stories of the people whose experiences have shaped and continue to shape the America in which we live. History has made me an African American. It is an Africa that I have come from, and an America that I have helped to create. Since they were first brought as captives to Virginia, the people who would become African Americans have struggled for freedom. Thousands fought for the rights of all Americans during the Revolutionary War, and for their own rights during the Civil War. On the battlefield, through education, and through their creative genius, they have worked toward one goal: that the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness be denied no one. Fired by the legacy of these men and women, the struggle continues today. "Portrays the quests of individual Africans against the background of broader historical movements. Instead of a comprehensive, strict chronology, Myers offers, through freed slave Ibrahima, investigative reporter Ida Wells, artist Meta Warrick Fuller, inventor George Latimore, artist Dred Scott, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, and others, history at its best—along with deeper understanding of past and contemporary events. Readers will grasp reasons behind incidents ranging from bewildering Supreme Court decisions to the historical need for the black extended family. Intriguing and rousing." (Publishers Weekly starred review*). Walter Dean Myers was a New York Times bestselling author, Printz Award winner, five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, two-time Newbery Honor recipient, and the National Ambassador for Young People''s Literature. Maria Russo, writing in the New York Times, called Myers "one of the greats and a champion of diversity in children’s books well before the cause got mainstream attention."

The story of the Harlem Hellfighters is not simply one of victory in a war. . . . It is the story of men who acted as men, and who gave a good account of themselves when so many people thought, even hoped, that they would fail. What defines a true hero? The "Harlem Hellfighters," the African American soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment of World War I, redefined heroism -- for America, and for the world. At a time of widespread bigotry and racism, these soldiers put their lives on the line in the name of democracy. The Harlem Hellfighters: When Pride Met Courage is a portrait of bravery and honor. With compelling narrative and never-before-published photographs, Michael L. Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers and renowned filmmaker Bill Miles deftly portray the true story of these unsung American heroes.

Follows a family''s two hundred forty-one year history, from the capture of an African boy in the 1750s through the lives of his descendants, as their dreams and circumstances lead them away from and back to the small plot of land in South Carolina that they call the Glory Field.

Acclaimed writer Walter Dean Myers celebrates the people of Harlem with these powerful and soulful first-person poems in the voices of the residents who make up the legendary neighborhood: basketball players, teachers, mail carriers, jazz artists, maids, veterans, nannies, students, and more. Exhilarating and electric, these poems capture the energy and resilience of a neighborhood and a people.

Relates events in Martin Luther King, Jr.''s, childhood, which sowed the seeds for his activism for equal rights for people, regardless of their color.

Cindy''s friend, Karin, needs a break, so Cindy agrees to babysit one evening. However, when Karin decides she needs more time to figure out her life, Cindy and her friends must manage to take care of the baby.

Set in Harlem, this book bears witness to the difference a caring adult can make in the life of a young person.

Friends Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, and Bobbi, caught in the middle of a mock Civil War at DaVinci Academy, learn the true cost of freedom of speech when they use their alternative newspaper, The Cruiser, to try to make peace.

Sixteen-year-old Crystal knows she''s blessed. She is drop-dead gorgeous and in the beginning stages of a glamorous career as a model in New York City. At first, modeling is exciting. But soon, her life becomes less and less about her, and more and more about her body. Crystal wonders if her new life is worth giving up everything -- her friends, her beliefs, and her self-respect.

Captured, and about to be killed, a young African princess is dramatically rescued by a British naval officer. Taken to England, she is presented at court to Queen Victoria. As an important friendship begins, Sarah embarks on a whole new life. This incredible true story is retold alongside real letters, photographs and historical documents. Recounted with insight and empathy by Walter Dean Myers, the US National Ambassador for Young People''s Literature 2012-2013, this is an important reflection on royalty, race, class, belonging and - above all - identity.

A collection of poems and antique photographs depicting children of many different nationalities.

Jimmy and Kevin could really use a guide to life. According to Duke, who has given them after-school jobs at his Harlem barbershop, there are rules for everything: how to stay out of trouble, how to succeed in life, what it takes to make it. But is it good advice or just more aggravation?

Text and pictures describe the life and ideas of the Black Muslim leader Malcolm X.

Teenager Biddy Owens'' 1948 journal about working for the Birmingham Black Barons includes the games and the players, racism the team faces from New Orleans to Chicago, and his family''s resistance to his becoming a professional baseball player. Includes a historical note about the evolution of the Negro Leagues.

Pictures and easy-to-read text introduce the life of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.