National Book Foundation

[National Book Foundation]

[weneeddiversebooks]

The Work To Be Done event, a celebration of literary icon Walter Dean Myers, was organized by his son Christopher Myers and held at Symphony Space in uptown Manhattan on March 8th. Not only were kind words said about Walter and the inspiration he had on others but how his work extends to a whole community that didn’t see themselves. 

"My father told me his voice saved him, that his writing saved him," said Christopher. And in many ways his work has saved many others. Thank you Walter Dean Myers for all you’ve done and contributed through your writing and presence. And thanks to Christopher and everyone who participated and attended for a wonderful day to remember Walter.

(photos from top to bottom: Photo of Walter Dean Myers; Christopher Myers; Jason Reynolds; Eisa Davis; Jacqueline Woodson; Helga Davis; Brian Selznick; WNDB team member Jennifer Baker, Christopher Myers, and WNDB team member Dhonielle Clayton.)

[nationalbook]

Congratulations on a wonderful evening!

[National Book Foundation]

[weneeddiversebooks]

A Celebration of the Life & Legacy of Walter Dean Myers, “Work to be Done” in NYC at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway) on March 8th from 5-7pm. 

Speakers for this event include: Christopher Myers, Brian Selznick, Jacqueline Woodson, Wah Ming Chang, Jason Reynolds, Emily Raboteau and many many more!

[nationalbook]

Hey New Yorkers ! This looks great!

[National Book Foundation]

By eight, I was leading a dual life. I played in the streets all day, and at night I would come home and spend a lot of time with stories. It was my very special world. As time went on, the stories stayed in my mind. They were with me like secret friends and would pop up in the oddest places. In the middle of a stickball game, for example, or on a tree-climbing expedition.

Walter Dean Myers, a two-time Finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

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[National Book Foundation]

“I don’t feel that the dispossessed are hopeless, just in need of a helping hand. When I was fourteen my family was dysfunctional. I had an alcoholic mother, a father suffering from depression, a recently murdered uncle, etc., etc. I barely survived that period and there were those willing to write me off. The kids I interview in prisons are often desperate to understand the world around them, and we who are fortunate enough to be secure in our lives need to understand the kids. I offer my books as bridges.”

The National Book Foundation sadly regrets the passing of celebrated author and three-time National Book Award Finalist Walter Dean Myers.

Myers, pictured here with his son Christopher Myers, was the author of more than 100 books for children and young adults and served as the Library of Congress’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature in 2012. In addition to winning two Newbery Honors, Myers was the first winner of the Michael L. Printz Award and the first recipient of the Coretta Scott-King Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

[National Book Foundation]

TODAY I am a writer, but I also see myself as something of a landscape artist. I paint pictures of scenes for inner-city youth that are familiar, and I people the scenes with brothers and aunts and friends they all have met.

Walter Dean Myers, “Where are the People of Color in Children’s Books?” Worth rereading.

[National Book Foundation]

The first thing I had to do was to cop the time from whoever brought me a meal. Then I would mark that off, and the next time they brought me a meal I would mark that off, and then divide that into sections.

The room was getting darker. Soon it would be so dark I would have to feel my way to the cot. But I wasn’t feeling bad about it anymore. Maybe if I stayed in detention for months, or even years, it would be different. But I could put up with bad stuff happening to me.

Then why do I fight all the time?

Because fighting is good. When you fight you’re alive, you’re somebody. You’re not standing in the corridor with your hands behind your back. Maybe that’s it, that you’re free, swinging your fists, letting people know who you are. Even if you’re going to die. That kid who beat up Mr. Hooft, maybe he knew more than Mr. Hooft thought. Maybe he knew he was going to die but needed to be somebody for that minute. Like the guys in the hood running down the streets throwing signs and spitting smack like they’re bulletproof but knowing they aren’t. Knowing they aren’t.

I could do detention. Sitting there in the dark, trembling as the minutes slipped by. It didn’t make any difference how slow it went. I was locked in and the rest of the world was locked out. I couldn’t touch them, but they couldn’t touch me, either.

I’m all right.

When they finally let me out, I was jumpy, off balance. It’s how they wanted me to feel.

Excerpted from Lockdown, a 2010 National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature. Its author, Walter Dean Myers was the 2012 Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and three-time National Book Awards Finalist. Myers passed away July 1.