68 pages • 2 hours read
Walter Dean MyersA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Walter Dean Myers was born in West Virginia in 1937. After his mother, Mary Green, died when he was two years old, his father, George Myers, struggled to care for his kids. Myers was taken in by foster parents, Florence and Herbert Dean. Florence was the first wife of his biological father, and Herbert was her new husband. They raised Myers in Harlem, New York, and he later adopted their last name as his middle name to honor them.
Though Myers grew up in the 1950s and ’60s—more than 20 years earlier than his protagonist in Scorpions—his childhood has many similarities to that of Jamal. Like Jamal’s Mama, the Deans provided Myers with a loving and devoutly religious home. Even so, Myers had a tough and lonely childhood. He had a speech impediment and “often found [himself] leading with [his] fists when teased” (“About Walter Dean Myers.” Walter Dean Myers website. 2023). He got in fights and was a disruptive student who struggled academically. Jamal, similarly, is most often aggressively defensive when confronted. Even though Jamal is smart and enthusiastic about some subjects, he struggles in school because the system is not designed to support or engage him.
By Walter Dean Myers
Autobiography of My Dead Brother
Autobiography of My Dead Brother
Walter Dean Myers
Bad Boy: A Memoir
Bad Boy: A Memoir
Walter Dean Myers
Dope Sick
Dope Sick
Walter Dean Myers
Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels
Walter Dean Myers
Hoops
Hoops
Walter Dean Myers
Lockdown
Lockdown
Walter Dean Myers
Monster
Monster
Walter Dean Myers
Shooter
Shooter
Walter Dean Myers
Slam!
Slam!
Walter Dean Myers
Somewhere in the Darkness
Somewhere in the Darkness
Walter Dean Myers
Street Love
Street Love
Walter Dean Myers
Sunrise Over Fallujah
Sunrise Over Fallujah
Walter Dean Myers
The Glory Field
The Glory Field
Walter Dean Myers
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
Walter Dean Myers
The Young Landlords
The Young Landlords
Walter Dean Myers
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection