Book Review: Darius & Twig by Walter Dean Myers

Darius & Twig
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Released: April 23rd 2013
Review Source: HarperTeen

New York Times bestselling author and Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers once again connects with teenagers everywhere in Darius & Twig, a novel about friendship and needing to live your own dream.

Darius and Twig are an unlikely pair: Darius is a writer whose only escape is his alter ego, a peregrine falcon named Fury, and Twig is a middle-distance runner striving for athletic success. But they are drawn together in the struggle to overcome the obstacles that Harlem life throws at them.

The two friends must face down bullies, an abusive uncle, and the idea that they’ll be stuck in the same place forever in this touching and raw new teen novel from Walter Dean Myers, award-winning author of Monster,Kick, We Are America, Bad Boy, and many other celebrated literary works for children and teens.

As readers we always have a set of authors that we grow very fond of. Those great authors whose novels for some reason snare us into being fans forever. For me personally, Walter Dean Myers is that type of author. One of those authors who produce great novels, Myers has honed his craft of storytelling. Walter Dean Myers writes with an emotion filled style that portrays the trials and tribulations undergone by his characters. In his new book Darius and Twig, Myers answered the request of his fans by writing a story about friendship and its powerful bond.

Darius is a young guy struggling to make it in the world. Trying to provide for his emotional mother and little brother. Darius' only means of release is through his writing and his best friend Twig. Twig, a runner on the rise, also faces some inner demons causing a strong friendship between the two. Faced with bullies, gang violence, and college, the two have to rely on each other to pull through the tough times. While not one of the more powerful novels, this book still delivers a powerful message. Using his familiar urban dialogue, he conveys a message of hope and friendship that will persevere. My only disappointment is that I wish the novel was longer. Overall, another emotional, thought provoking novel that will have readers looking into their own lives.

Book Review: All the Right Stuff by Walter Dean Myers

All the Right Stuff
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Contemporary
Released: April 24th 2012
Review Source: HarperCollins Children's Books
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) The summer after his absentee father is killed in a random shooting, Paul volunteers at a Harlem soup kitchen where he listens to lessons about "the social contract" from an elderly African American man, and mentors a seventeen-year-old unwed mother who wants to make it to college on a basketball scholarship.

Walter Dean Myers is a renowned young adult author, who is known for his emotional and powerful novels that truly showcase the inner turmoil of a character. With books like Monster and Falling Angels, Myers really showed his writing power through his expression of words through the pages of many of his other books. With this in mind, I am truly a little surprised with this new book, All The Right Stuff. A very thought provoking, intellectual piece of writing, however it exhibited very little in the area of plot, which isn’t something that is true in his books that I’ve read.

In All the Right Stuff, a young man named Paul begins with a social contract from the people around him. A major part of the this novel, was the theory of the social contract, a longtime debate on a person’s natural and legal rights. The social contract debate has been going on for a long time and it’s Paul’s turn to try and decipher the true meaning.

To be honest three fourth’s of the book is the overall debate, over the social contract, leaving very little room the development of the plot. While his writing style and flow of the book went along nicely, I just feel like the storyline really didn’t grow into something bigger. With most of the characters being dry and static, I found it very hard to connect with the book and its characters. From a learning stand point, of trying to learn something about the social contract, I would say that the book did a very good job. On an entertaining factor, however, I would say that the book didn’t really make me crave reading it, like most of his novels do.