A classic memoir that's gripping, funny, and ultimately unforgettable from the bestselling former National Ambassador of Books for Young People. A strong choice for summer reading—an engaging and powerful autobiographical exploration of growing up a so-called "bad boy" in Harlem in the 1940s.

As a boy, Myers was quick-tempered and physically strong, always ready for a fight. He also read voraciously—he

...

An award-winning author recounts one of the most deadly and destructive acts of racial violence in American history and explores the ways the Tulsa Race Massacre is the story of America.

A portrait of the man who wrote the first U.S. dictionary traces his youth as a bookish Connecticut farm boy and his 20-year effort to write the 2,000-page, all-American dictionary that was published in 1828 when he was 70 years old, in an account complemented by an illustrated chronology.