Walter Dean Myers Books in Order

A boy accompanies his father to work at a theatre and discovers the world of ballet. Meeting the dancers creates a connection between their rehearsals and his neighbourhood, introducing him to an art form through unexpected friendships.

Jimmy watches birds and tries to imitate their flight, but his attempts do not get him into the air. Discovering another way to soar changes his understanding of possibility and reveals what imagination can offer when physical efforts fail.

New to New York’s 116th Street, Francis gains the nickname Stuff and begins making friends. Over a year of unusual neighbourhood experiences, the group’s adventures introduce him to the personalities, loyalties, and surprises of his new home.

An introduction to public assistance explains how the United States supports people living in poverty. It examines the existing welfare system and considers alternative programmes, encouraging young readers to think about the choices societies make in addressing economic hardship.

In 2076, the world’s army investigates a sinister beam reaching Earth from the planet Suffes. As the ray causes people to lose their minds, the organisation must understand a threat that attacks humanity through its own thoughts.

Sixth-grader Jamie earns a place on the basketball team, only to discover that a newcomer is a stronger player. Competition challenges his pride and confidence as he tries to understand what success on the court means for him.

When his grandmother can no longer care for him, Tippy moves in with a father he barely knows. Discovering that the man is a thief forces him to choose between joining the crimes and risking the loss of their relationship.

Five Harlem friends buy a rundown apartment building for a dollar, expecting an exciting venture. Repairs, troublesome tenants and a friend's arrest soon give their young landlord, Paul Williams, more responsibility than he imagined.

Two adventures follow young investigators into unusual mysteries. One concerns the disappearance of a valuable black pearl, while the other brings a celebrated ghost hunter face to face with a mischievous spirit.

A wealthy king fails to recognise the suffering within his kingdom. The wise Pundabi creates the mystery of a golden serpent to make him see his subjects differently, turning an imagined threat into a lesson about responsibility and compassion.

Harlem teenager Lonnie Jackson sees basketball as his chance at a different future. As his team approaches a major tournament final, his coach's troubled past and the demands of gamblers threaten everything Lonnie has worked for.

After a brutal attack destroys his people, Tarik sets out to confront the warrior responsible. His quest for revenge demands training, courage and a journey toward a powerful enemy whose forces have already shattered his world.

Dean and his Harlem friends suspect that something extraordinary is happening on their street. A Russian limousine, an enigmatic neighbor and a woman associated with voodoo fuel an investigation filled with spies, wild theories and comic misunderstandings.

Steve gains a new brother when his parents adopt a boy with a criminal record. After trouble of his own lands Steve in community service at a retirement home, unexpected friendships challenge his ideas about responsibility.

Two American teenagers become entangled in an Egyptian mystery involving an ancient pharaoh's tomb. As they investigate a robbery, the discoveries surrounding a dead king turn their visit into an adventure with more at stake than sightseeing.

Gerald joins an exclusive student organization that seems devoted to worthy causes. His investigation of its hidden activities takes him from California to Peru, where the group's real purpose puts him in increasingly serious danger.

Two lonely Harlem teenagers fall in love while struggling against poverty and violence. When a drug dealer threatens Didi's family, she and Motown face pressures that test their hopes for a life together.

Mr Monkey’s confidence leads him into danger when the Gotcha Bird captures him during a walk. Faced with becoming the bird’s meal, he must rely on quick thinking and ingenuity to turn a threatening encounter toward escape.

Lonnie Jackson leaves Harlem for a college basketball scholarship in the Midwest. Between classes, relationships and the ambitions surrounding his team, he must resist gambling schemes that could destroy his chance to play professionally.

While visiting Spain, Chris and Ken Arrow try to help a friend accused of stealing a valuable cross. Their efforts to clear his name draw the brothers into a dangerous search for the real thieves.

Chris and Ken Arrow accompany their anthropologist mother to Hong Kong, where they become involved in pursuing thieves. The brothers follow their quarry through the city's back alleys and waterways.

Camping in the Amazon, Chris and Ken Arrow encounter a tribal village threatened by an apparent swamp monster. The brothers investigate the attacks and try to protect the villagers from the frightening creature.

During a camping trip in Morocco, Chris Arrow and his brother investigate the theft of a valuable silver chalice. Their search leads them toward the mystery surrounding its disappearance from a Moroccan palace.

An unexpected pregnancy draws young people and their families into difficult decisions about relationships and their futures. The story presents different perspectives and invites readers to consider the characters' choices and imagine other possibilities.

Fifteen-year-old Crystal enters the demanding world of fashion modeling while trying to maintain her school and personal life. As her career advances, the image others want her to project conflicts with her sense of herself.

Unable to afford college, Richie Perry leaves Harlem and joins the army during the Vietnam War. Combat, racism and the experiences of his fellow soldiers challenge his expectations about courage, duty and the reasons they are fighting.

TJ and his brother have found an adoptive family, but their friend Mop remains at an orphanage facing closure. Convinced that baseball might help her find parents, Mop and her friends devise a plan around their coach.

Twelve-year-old Jamal becomes involved with a gang and gains access to a gun. The promise of power brings choices that threaten his innocence and put his closest friendship under pressure.

Fourteen-year-old Mouse and his Harlem friends turn a summer of basketball and dance contests into a hunt for stolen treasure. Meanwhile, a new romance and his absent father's return complicate his relationships with the people closest to him.

African American struggles for freedom emerge through the experiences of individuals across American history. Soldiers, inventors, artists, and activists connect personal lives to wider conflicts over slavery, citizenship, opportunity, and the unfinished pursuit of equal rights.

TJ and his brother enter an international baseball tournament in New Jersey, where competition brings new friendships and challenges. Alongside Mop, they also try to help a teammate whose problems extend beyond the baseball field.

When Jimmy's long-absent father suddenly returns, he promises a new life and takes his son on a road trip. As they travel, Jimmy must judge his father's stories and decide what their uncertain relationship can become.

Fifteen-year-old Artemis Bonner travels west to avenge his uncle and find a lost gold mine. With his companion Frolic, he pursues a killer across a vast territory where dangerous rivals have their own plans for the treasure.

Myers pairs poems with photographs of African American children from around the turn of the twentieth century. The collection brings words and historical images together in a portrait of childhood.

Malcolm X’s life moves from a troubled youth through imprisonment to a central role in Black political and religious activism. The biography examines his changing beliefs, public influence, and confrontations with the racial injustices of his time.

Darnell Rock reluctantly joins his school newspaper after repeated trouble threatens his place at school. Reporting gives him a new way to understand his community and discover that his words can influence the people and problems around him.

Generations of an African American family struggle to preserve their connections to one another and to a piece of South Carolina land. Their interwoven experiences trace the lasting effects of slavery, resistance and the search for freedom.

Myers combines poetry with antique photographs of children from different countries and backgrounds. The collection celebrates childhood across national boundaries while offering a glimpse of young lives from earlier generations.

When an attack destroys Jon's home, he and other young survivors flee into the wilderness. Their search for their people's ancestral refuge forces them to confront danger and question the beliefs that have guided their journey.

After a greedy buzzard cheats several animals, Mr Monkey decides to intervene. His effort to teach the bird a lesson turns a series of unfair bargains into a cautionary tale about cleverness, greed, and looking beyond easy promises.

Greg Harris excels on the basketball court, where everyone knows him as Slam. Poor grades and a volatile temper threaten his future, forcing him to confront the demands of school, relationships and the ambitions he has built around sports.

Detective Smiffy Blue investigates a series of comic mysteries in Doober City with his assistant Jeremy Joe and his dog. Readers can follow clues in the text and illustrations as the unusual cases unfold.

Born into slavery, Toussaint L’Ouverture becomes a leader of the struggle that transforms Haiti. Historical narrative and paintings follow the uprising against French rule, introducing readers to the people and conflicts behind a fight for freedom.

Myers celebrates Harlem through a poem tracing its people's journeys, history, traditions, and cultural life. Christopher Myers's illustrations accompany a portrait of the neighborhood's family bonds, struggles, hopes, and enduring creative energy.

Poems and antique photographs explore the relationship between mothers and children through moments of ordinary family life. Childhood memories, humour, and quiet affection shape a collection about the care and connection that endure across generations.

Rescued from execution in West Africa, Sarah Forbes Bonetta is taken to England and placed under Queen Victoria’s protection. Letters and historical records reveal a young woman negotiating education, belonging, and the limits imposed by royal patronage.

Guitar-playing dog Flats and his companion Caleb flee an abusive owner who wants them to fight. Pursuing a musical career brings new possibilities, but their former master keeps following, threatening the freedom Flats needs to play the blues.

Walter Dean Myers recalls growing up in Harlem, where a readiness to fight coexisted with a concealed love of books. Poverty, racial barriers, and uncertainty about his future shaped a difficult adolescence and his determination to become a writer.

Sixteen-year-old Jimmy is sent to work in Duke Wilson's barbershop instead of serving time for assault. The men who gather there challenge his assumptions and offer practical lessons about choices, responsibility and making a future.

A young American soldier moves through Vietnam, terrified of an enemy he cannot see. This story in verse follows the waiting, gunfire, and immediate fear of patrol, presenting war through one soldier’s thoughts and strained senses.

In fifteenth-century Granada, three feline friends join a struggle against the canine Fidorean Guards. Paco, Askia and Lacy must become resourceful warriors as they help defend their city against enemies determined to take control.

Six Old Testament stories are retold from alternative perspectives, inviting fresh consideration of familiar biblical events. Myers explores the people within these narratives, while Christopher Myers supplies artwork for the collection.

Poetry follows the blues through the African American experience, joining personal feeling with shared history. The book introduces young readers to a musical tradition that gives expression to hardship, endurance, and the continuing need to be heard.

After months at a privileged prep school, Anthony Witherspoon returns to Harlem and finds his familiar world changed. His girlfriend's drug use forces him to confront the distance between his new opportunities and the life he left behind.

David struggles to understand his father's disturbing behavior and the changes in his older brother. A mysterious man named Mr. Moses introduces him to the power of dreams, opening a different way to understand his troubled family.

Expeditions to Antarctica reveal the dangers, discoveries, and ambitions behind exploration of the frozen continent. Accounts of explorers such as Cook, Shackleton, and Byrd sit alongside its extreme climate, wildlife, and contribution to scientific understanding.

Police interviews, reports and a diary reconstruct the events surrounding a school shooting. Through the lives of Cameron, Carla and Leonard, conflicting accounts reveal bullying, isolation and the difficult questions left behind by violence.

The USS Constellation’s history spans patrols against the illegal slave trade, Civil War service, and eventual preservation. Following the ship through changing duties reveals how one naval vessel participated in major events before becoming a restored Baltimore landmark.

Jesse records the life of his friend Rise through drawings and writing as they grow up in Harlem. Their changing relationship exposes competing loyalties and the dangers of a neighborhood where gangs and drugs shape young lives.

Damien has basketball talent and a promising college future, but he falls for Junice, whose family faces very different circumstances. Told in verse, their romance confronts neighborhood expectations, family pressures and the divisions separating their lives.

In 1920s Harlem, aspiring musician Mark Purvis takes a job at The Crisis and encounters leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. A chance to earn extra money soon brings him into dangerous conflict with gangster Dutch Schultz.

Journalist and activist Ida B. Wells uses reporting to challenge lynching and racial discrimination. This illustrated biography follows her work as an educator, suffragist, and organiser, introducing young readers to a determined advocate who made truth a tool for change.

Robin Perry leaves Harlem for service in Iraq with a Civil Affairs unit. Assigned to help stabilize communities, he discovers how quickly good intentions collide with the confusion, fear and violence of a war that refuses simple answers.

In an urban retelling of Swan Lake, Amiri falls in love with Odette in a housing project. Discovering that a dangerous local dealer controls her, he must fight to protect their relationship amid the threats surrounding them.

A drug deal leaves a police officer shot and Lil J wounded and on the run. Hiding in an abandoned building, he encounters a stranger whose unusual television offers a chance to reconsider the choices that brought him there.

Drew Lawson hopes basketball will carry him toward college and a professional career. When his coach changes the team's offense to favor another player, Drew must balance his individual ambitions with the teamwork needed to keep their season alive.

Jeremy discovers that different people see different sides of him: brother, son, runner, writer, dancer, and dreamer. Through encounters around his neighbourhood, he learns to celebrate the many identities that belong together within a single child.

An illustrated biography follows Muhammad Ali from his early boxing lessons to his most celebrated fights. His confidence, athletic skill, and larger public identity introduce young readers to a champion whose influence reached well beyond the ring.

During New York's 1863 draft riots, fifteen-year-old Claire finds herself caught between her Black father's and Irish mother's communities. As racial hatred and resentment turn violent, she must confront her identity and find a way through the turmoil.

Reese wants to earn early release from juvenile detention, but protecting a vulnerable boy could jeopardize his chances. A work assignment at a nursing home brings another difficult relationship and forces him to question the future he deserves.

Four friends at a Harlem school for gifted students launch an alternative newspaper to express their views. A mock Civil War tests their commitment to free speech, forcing them to consider what standing up for a cause really costs.

In Spanish Harlem, fiercely independent Carmen falls for José, whose possessiveness soon clashes with her ambitions. When a charismatic music star attracts her attention, desire and jealousy intensify in this contemporary retelling of the opera's story.

A talented young chess player’s arrest for trying to buy drugs shocks his classmates. Zander and the Cruisers investigate the pressures behind his behaviour, using their school newspaper to explore expectations, friendship, and the consequences of a desperate decision.

Thirteen-year-old soccer player Kevin Johnson finds himself in jail despite his promising place on a competitive team. A police sergeant tries to help him, but changing direction will require trust and an honest reckoning with what happened.

Five monkeys set off in search of a life without work, persuaded by the promises of a confident friend. Encounters with hungry predators and other unwelcome arrangements challenge their assumptions about comfort, effort, and what makes a life worthwhile.

Fourteen-year-old Abdullah Syed Hari loves his family and friends, yet his life also includes being a Somali pirate. This short story brings a young person’s perspective to a dangerous and unfamiliar way of living.

Poetry and paintings explore America as a landscape continually shaped by its people and their hopes for freedom. Diverse voices and historical change form a tribute to the country’s possibilities and the shared ideals that remain unfinished work.

LaShonda’s costume designs earn praise and an opportunity beyond her Harlem school. Accepting it could mean leaving her autistic brother behind, forcing her to weigh creative ambition against loyalty while wondering whether her fellow Cruisers will support her.

After his father is killed, Paul DuPree works at a Harlem soup kitchen, where an older man's conversations introduce him to the social contract. Competing views of power and responsibility challenge him to decide how to direct his own life.

Drawing on his writing career, Walter Dean Myers offers young readers literary advice and a step-by-step account of his working process. The guide turns experience gained across many books into practical encouragement for aspiring authors.

Best friends Darius and Twig dream of futures beyond Harlem through writing and running. Bullying, family pressures and uncertain opportunities test their determination as each struggles to protect his ambitions and support the other's.

Young soldiers Josiah Wedgewood and Marcus Perry face the invasion of Normandy during World War II. Their friendship crosses racial boundaries as preparation gives way to combat and both confront the terrifying realities behind their ideas of heroism.

The Cruisers’ school newspaper attracts attention from students in England, but an exchange of articles and photographs brings new trouble. Their reporting raises questions about free expression and how images can distort a story when separated from its context.

Four teenagers killed by gun violence encounter one another in a Harlem walk-up that has become their limbo. Recreating their graffiti tags offers a way to leave a mark as they confront what it means to exist after death.

In 2035, corporations control much of the world's resources while outsiders struggle to survive. Computer expert Dahlia joins a group of young resisters planning to challenge that power, knowing their skills may offer little protection against a ruthless enemy.

In nineteenth-century New York, William Henry Lane dreams of becoming a celebrated dancer. His extraordinary talent carries him toward stages across the Atlantic, but racial barriers complicate his pursuit of recognition and a place in the performing world.

Frederick Douglass teaches himself to read while enslaved and grows into a leading writer, speaker, and abolitionist. This illustrated biography draws on his autobiographies to show how literacy and courageous action helped him challenge slavery and demand change.

Air Force officer Fred Cherry survives being shot down over Vietnam, only to endure years of captivity in Hanoi. This account follows his ordeal as a prisoner of war and the challenges involved in sustaining hope under prolonged imprisonment.

In 1839, enslaved Africans seize the Amistad in a bid to recover their freedom. Their struggle continues in an American courtroom, where the fate of the captives becomes bound up with a broader confrontation over slavery and justice.

Poems give voice to Harlem residents across generations and occupations, including students, musicians, workers, and veterans. Their individual memories and concerns create a neighbourhood portrait shaped by shared history, everyday struggles, pride, and resilience.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to nonviolence guides a biography set against defining moments of the civil rights movement. His speeches, leadership, and peaceful protests introduce young readers to a campaign for equality that challenged American society.

Fifteen poems celebrate jazz through rhythms and wordplay that evoke its many styles. Paintings of musicians and dancers accompany a journey from early forms to later innovations, supported by an introduction, timeline, and glossary for young readers.

Historical photographs trace African American lives across roughly a century and a half. Images drawn from public records and private family albums bring ordinary people and prominent figures together in a visual account of community, change, and endurance.

Lonely Harry wants a wife but must first defeat a knight, a daunting prospect for a dragon unable to fight. A fairy offers magical help, and their increasingly awkward efforts challenge him to find the courage he lacks.

Muhammad Ali’s story combines his achievements in the boxing ring with the public stands that made him controversial. From a segregated childhood to opposition to the Vietnam War, the biography examines the courage and convictions behind his fame.

African American soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment confront racism while serving during the First World War. Their courage and military achievements form an account of men seeking recognition and opportunity while fighting for a country that denied them equality.

Residents of Harlem’s 145th Street seek connection in unexpected places, from a beauty shop to the war in Iraq. These linked stories follow young people and families discovering how love can complicate hardship, responsibility, and their ideas about themselves.

Episodes from Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood show how early encounters with prejudice and injustice shaped his developing convictions. The biography introduces young readers to the experiences that helped prepare him for a life devoted to equal rights.