Walter Dean Myers (1937–2014)
Author of Monster
About the Author
Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937 in Martinsberg, West Virginia. When he was three years old, his mother died and his father sent him to live with Herbert and Florence Dean in Harlem, New York. He began writing stories while in his teens. He dropped out of high school and enlisted in show more the Army at the age of 17. After completing his army service, he took a construction job and continued to write. He entered and won a 1969 contest sponsored by the Council on Interracial Books for Children, which led to the publication of his first book, Where Does the Day Go? During his lifetime, he wrote more than 100 fiction and nonfiction books for children and young adults. His works include Fallen Angels, Bad Boy, Darius and Twig, Scorpions, Lockdown, Sunrise Over Fallujah, Invasion, Juba!, and On a Clear Day. He also collaborated with his son Christopher, an artist, on a number of picture books for young readers including We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart and Harlem, which received a Caldecott Honor Award, as well as the teen novel Autobiography of My Dead Brother. He was the winner of the first-ever Michael L. Printz Award for Monster, the first recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. He also won the Coretta Scott King Award for African American authors five times. He died on July 1, 2014, following a brief illness, at the age of 76. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Walter Dean Myers
The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II Soldier, Normandy, France, 1944 (1999) 1,179 copies, 22 reviews
The Journal of Biddy Owens: The Negro Leagues, Birmingham, Alabama, 1948 (2001) 614 copies, 9 reviews
Smiffy Blue: Ace Crime Detective : the Case of the Missing Ruby and Other Stories (1996) 65 copies, 2 reviews
A Place Called Heartbreak: A Story of Vietnam (Stories of America) (1992) — Author — 49 copies, 1 review
Monster Teen Impulse Story 4 copies
Ace Crime Detective 1 copy
The glory field 1 copy
the outsider 1 copy
Harlem a Poem 1 copy
On A Clear Day 1 copy
Monster Student Packet Grades 9-12 (Activities to Teach Reading, Thinking, and Writing) (2019) 1 copy
Monstrul 1 copy
The Journal of William Thomas Emerson, The Journal of James Edmond Pease & The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins, (My… (2000) 1 copy
Me Mop and the Moondance Kid 1 copy
The Treasure of Lemon Brown 1 copy
The Golden Serpent 1 copy
Associated Works
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales (2011) — Contributor — 891 copies, 48 reviews
Places I Never Meant To Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers (1999) — Contributor — 321 copies, 6 reviews
When I Was Your Age, Volume One: Original Stories About Growing Up (1996) — Contributor — 238 copies, 2 reviews
No Easy Answers: Short Stories About Teenagers Making Tough Choices (1997) — Contributor — 144 copies, 1 review
On the Wings of Peace: Writers and Illustrators Speak Out for Peace, in Memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1995) — Contributor — 100 copies, 2 reviews
Every Man for Himself: Ten Original Stories About Being a Guy (2005) — Contributor — 98 copies, 7 reviews
Black Ink: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power and Pleasure of Reading and Writing (2018) — Contributor — 82 copies
Center Stage: One-Act Plays for Teenage Readers and Actors (1990) — Contributor — 50 copies, 1 review
From One Experience to Another: Award-Winning Authors Sharing Real-Life Experiences Through Fiction (1997) — Contributor — 43 copies
This Family Is Driving Me Crazy: Ten Stories About Surviving Your Family (2009) — Contributor — 27 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Myers, Walter Dean
- Other names
- Myers, Walter Milton (birth name)
Williams, Stacie
Johnson, Stacie - Birthdate
- 1937-08-12
- Date of death
- 2014-07-01
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- West Virginia, USA
New York, New York, USA
Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
Harlem, New York, USA - Occupations
- writer
- Relationships
- Myers, Christopher (son)
- Organizations
- Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI|Board of Advisors)
- Awards and honors
- Margaret A. Edwards Award (1994)
Michael L. Printz Award (2000)
May Hill Arbuthnot Lecturer (2009)
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award (2010)
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature (2012-2013)
Children's Literature Legacy Award (2019)
Members
Discussions
Monster by Walter Dean Myer in EDE3343 Teaching Adol Lit MS Sp 2012 (January 2012)
Reviews
Lists
Youth: BLM (1)
African American (1)
Music (1)
Carole's List (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 155
- Also by
- 30
- Members
- 34,368
- Popularity
- #552
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 1,202
- ISBNs
- 1,129
- Languages
- 8
- Favorited
- 22
Written in a play format, because the protagonist is a film student in school, shows everything from his point of view. It seems like his way to step outside his experience of the court case and deal with his emotions.
Again, all teens should read this story!