Myers, Walter Dean (1937-2014), an African American children’s author, introduced new realism to stories about African Americans. Critics and educators have praised Myers’s work for portraying black urban life in a positive manner without minimizing its grim realities. Many of Myers’s books are set in the Harlem district of New York City, where he grew up. His characters typically show strength and dignity. Myers’s work features both humor and strong emotional impact.
Myers wrote several types of children’s and young adult literature, including realistic novels, historical fiction, adventure stories, ghost stories, fantasies, biographies and other nonfiction, poetry, and picture books. He won five Coretta Scott King Awards for outstanding books portraying the black experience for young readers. His winning books are The Young Landlords (1979), Motown and Didi: A Love Story (1984), Fallen Angels (1988), Now Is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom (1991), and Slam! (1996). His other books include Somewhere in the Darkness (1992), Malcolm X (1993), Monster (1999), The Beast (2003), Shooter (2004), I’ve Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2004), Autobiography of My Dead Brother (2005), The Harlem Hellfighters: When Pride Met Courage and Jazz (both 2006), Game and Sunrise over Fallujah (both 2008), Amiri & Odette: A Love Story and Riot (both 2009), Lockdown (2010), Invasion (2013), and On a Clear Day (2014) and Juba! (2015), both published after his death. Myers wrote a humorous animal story for young readers, Looking for the Easy Life (2011).
Myers was born on Aug. 12, 1937, in Martinsburg, West Virginia. His given name is Walter Milton Myers. He moved to Harlem when he was 3 years old to be raised by foster parents named Dean. Myers added Dean to his name to acknowledge them. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Empire State College in 1984. In 2012, the librarian of Congress appointed Myers the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. The two-year appointment involves traveling and speaking to groups of children, parents, and teachers to promote the joy of reading. Myers died on July 1, 2014. In 2019, he was posthumously (after death) awarded the Children’s Literature Legacy Award. The award is given annually by the American Library Association to an author or illustrator who has made “a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.”
