Here in Harlem

Acclaimed writer Walter Dean Myers celebrates the people of Harlem with these powerful and soulful first-person poems in the voices of the residents who make up the legendary neighborhood: basketball players, teachers, mail carriers, jazz artists, maids, veterans, nannies, students, and more. Exhilarating and electric, these poems capture the energy and resilience of a neighborhood and a people.★ "In this Whitman-esque ode to time and the city, the “crazy quilt patterns” of Harlem are reflected in the voices of the neighborhood’s “big-time people and its struggling folk".... One of Myers’s best—and that’s saying a lot. Sure to be a classic." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review


★ "In nearly 60 poems, Myers treats readers to a tour of Harlem's past and present, its hopes and fears, through the voices of narrators young and old.... Myers offers differing perspectives on milestone events such as Jackie Robinson joining the Dodgers, as well as subjects closer to home....And Harlem is indeed home, to all of the people who give voice to its pains and pleasures. Readers will want to visit again and again. —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review



Walter Dean Myers (1937 - 2014) was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He was one of the premier authors of books for children, and received numerous awards including the Michael L. Printz award and the Coretta Scott King Award.