What They Found: Love on 145th Street by Walter Dean Myers

Sitting on the front porch, or hanging out at the neighborhood meeting spot, or meeting somewhere else with friends to swap stories about the latest happenings in your life and the neighborhood you all share. Does this bring to mind pleasant or not so pleasant memories from the past? Though you shared the same neighborhood and surroundings with these people what was it about your lives that led you down different paths; and yet what was it about the neighborhood you shared that kept you connected to one another? You may see similarities in the fifteen short stories that Myers tells with those from your past.

The lives of the characters in each of the stories Myers tells center around the sights, sounds, and other familiarities of life on 145^th Street in Harlem, New York and the theme of love. Harlem isn’t typically a place that evokes thoughts of love, companionship, perseverance, or triumph. That’s exactly the image that Myers desires to dispel in this book. Myers interweaves the lives of the characters with love- what it is, what it isn’t, how to know, where to find it, or if you should even look for it. Myers’ introduces us to diverse characters with dissimilar backgrounds but all hoping to find the same thing- love in or around the same neighborhood- 145^th Street. We meet a recent widow and her two daughters who own the neighborhood beauty salon and decide to hold a grand opening/bar-b-que/memorial/fashion show to the dismay of some in the community. We also meet a local entrepreneur whose prosperity origins are questionable, a soldier on his way to fight in Iraq, a budding artist, and a sixteen year old single mother struggling to make ends meet.

Some of the stories in this compilation are longer than others. Some seem more complete in that they bring closer to a story. I expected that the end of one story would lead into the other, but that is not the case. Though the characters share the same neighborhood and the central theme is the same, each story is different. Characters from one story may be mentioned in another, but there is no consistent continuation of plot. The majority of the characters are in their late teens (17-19) so I would recommend an audience of readers ages 17 and up. Many will see themselves in these tales or someone they know. Many will be able to relate to the shared circumstance of growing up in a neighborhood full of diverse individuals, in that they take different routes in search of the same thing. This would be good required reading for a high school literature class. Teachers would be able to expound upon the text-to-world connections that students will surely make, as the stories tell the lives of teens from different vantage points.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2008 Nominations

Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography by Andrew Helfer and Randy Burke

Who was Malcolm X? A rebel? An innovator? A world-changer? Through this engaging graphic novel written by Andrew Helfer, with graphics by Randy Burke, you are given the facts to help you make your own decision. Malcolm X’s life is told in graphic detail (no pun intended) from his humble birth as the son of a homemaker and a Baptist minister with ties to Marcus Garvey to his tragic death on the Audubon Ballroom floor in Washington Heights, New York. The crisp, detailed, life-like drawings are a great accompaniment to the text.

The novel is based on the autobiography of Malcolm X, which was taken from interviews with and written by Alex Haley the author of the critically acclaimed book Roots. This graphic novel is a worthy equivalent for teens and adult readers who may struggle with reading large amounts of text. Teens will welcome the concise format in which the text and graphics are used to tell in detail the events of Malcolm X’s life. Adult readers will also welcome this format as the novel gives the entire history of Malcolm X in a format that is straight forward.

This novel was like reading a comic book, but much more, which is why it will appeal to young adult readers. The novel is in book form rather than comic book form which is usually a thin magazine type format. The author does not short change the reader by providing more text than pictures or more pictures than text. Each page has enough text to give information and enough graphics to add visual details to the story. I would recommend this novel to young adult readers from grades 5 through high school. The verbiage is not too advanced for young readers nor is it too simplistic for older or advanced readers. Also, I would suggest this book for the required reading list for the aforementioned grades as well as an accompaniment to a history or social studies class, Black/African American history class.