Danny Aguiar

Walter Dean Myers was seperated from his parents at a young age and was taken to Harlem by Herbert Dean and his wife Florence Dean. Myers was a large kid for his age and he just didn't seem to fit in. He had trouble speaking and it was hard for people to understand him. Kids would make fun of him so he would fight them. During his early years in school Myers was seen as a problem child, always getting in trouble. Myers was an avid reader and writer. He told no one. He tried to fit in. He played basketball with all the kids his age. However, writing was his true love. His English teachers knew it. One of his teachers gave him books to read and told him to never stop writing. Myers knew he didn't want an unskilled job like the rest of his black friends. He wanted to make something out of his life. Myers was put in advanced classes. During Myers' last years of high school, everyone was concerned for him. He had stopped going to school. He spent his days reading out in Harlem. Myers decided to go back to school one day only to figure out that his senior year in high school had ended without him. When Myers turned 17, he joined the army. He wanted to escape from his derailing life. He had stopped writing. After his army years, Myers did a bunch of pointless jobs. It was at one of these jobs that he remember what his English teacher had told him. He could not stop writing. Myers went on to become a distinguished writer.

He used writing to help him fight his speech impediment.

He joined the army at 17.

His son, Christopher Myers, is an author and illustrator.

He was the Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a position created to raise national awareness of the importance of lifelong literacy and education.

His high school, Stuyvesant High, now says that he is a graduate even though he dropped out.

The full title of the book is Bad Boy: A Memoir. This journey through Myers' life was told in chronological order. He told of how he got in trouble almost every year. Each chapter was like a different year of his life. The story had an abrupt ending when Myers reveals that he became an author. I think he wrote it that way to highlight all the negative parts of his early years and contrast it with his success later on. He wanted to show readers his transformation.

I could definitely see Myers' personality shining through while reading this book. It was a mix of humor and seriousness that I think came together nicely. He would speak of things like what it meant to be black, but find ways to get a quick chuckle to lighten the mood. Near the end it gets more serious as he is speaking of his future. He saw that being black in the 1940s and 1950s was not great. He wasn't allowed to some parties simply because he was black. He lost his job to a white kid even though they were both equally qualified. It is easy to see how he struggled and it is nice to see that he overcame it.

Myers was a smart kid and it shows in his writing. It is sophisticated and you can see that he was quite interested in the English language. Myers' speech impediment did not stop him from mastering the art of writing.

Myers understood problems that his peers didn't even know existed. Myers said, "What did being born black have to do with excellence?" Myers showed with his writing that being black didn't have to hold him back. He could be just as great as the white people he learned about in history if he just believed in himself.

I liked how Myers showed his transformation into a writer. When I first began reading I honestly had no clue how the book was going to end. Myers seemed like a punk in his early years. He fought anybody that he wanted to because he was so big. But as the book went on I noticed that he was just misunderstood. He wasn't built to fit in. No matter how he tried, he was always the odd one out. His love for reading and writing was too strong to leave behind. It's not like he was always writing, but the thought was always with him. He knew ever since he was young that he wanted to be a writer, but it was the long transformation that made him realize how bad he wanted it. He even joined the army! Who makes that decision so quickly?

I connected with Myers' story because, like him, I'm not really like most people. The difference is that I don't try to fit in. I'll do what I want to do and I don't really care what other people think. I've realized that I value education unlike a lot of my friends. There are kids that are just there for the letter grades. I look past that. I want to have a good future. I see kids partying and getting drunk. I don't care for any of that. I've seen plenty of drunk idiots that just look plain stupid. I'm not about that swag yolo 420 life.

I want a college education, despite seeing how crappy the education system is. It costs way too much, but what are you going to do. And if it had the choice, I wouldn't even go to school. I'd just play guitar in a band.

This was an integral part of understanding the deeper meaning of the book. Whenever I find myself in a jam and I need a quick way out, I just recite these wise words.

Myers says he helps one of his friends with a few "jobs" throughout the book, but he is actually helping him with drug deals. Now, I know this was a different time period but he was doing this when he was like 16 years old. One of the times he helped him he almost got stabbed too. Myers writes of this occasion so calmly yet it could of ended his life right then and there. I don't know if he is making this or exaggerating what happened because there is no way he could have kept his composure. This guy seems like a beast either way. Hands vs knife. He wins.