145th Street Short Stories

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Dakota Rayfield says...

A grown man at his own funeral, but he is not dead.He wants to be at his funeral while he is alive so he can hear what is said about him, so he makes his own and pretends to be dead.This is just one thing that can happen on 145th street.This is one of the short stories that is a part of this great book.All the stories focus on one character but in the end they are tied together by a bond, a bond which is that they all live and breath this street.You can enjoy stories to read before bed or you can flash through the whole book at once.It's your choice.Enjoy.

Posted on August 21, 2010

Hester Sadee says...

In the book 145th Street Short Stories by Walter Dean Myers he talks about all things that happen in this street. There are some gansters but best of all some great friends that are always there when you need them. In this book you will meet some teenagers that are faced with hard decisions.

WhatI liked about the book was how the author used descriptive language ,I can vizualizeand connect. I like almost all of the stories because its like you learnlesson from the story.In this book I connected a lot but I learned three lessons for life.

I recommend this book to anyone that is in 5th grade and up, but I think its more of a middle school book.In this book you will learn some new things. Read on to discover a book that has some interesting stories or experiences.

Posted on August 22, 2010

Shizuko Hinahon says...

Walter Dean Myers' collection of short stories focuses on the inhabitants of "145th Street" in Harlem. Each story is well-crafted and geared to readers 12 and up; Delacorte Press is the children's branch of Random HousePublishers. However, this volume is fine reading for adults as well aschildren.

The stories share characters, settings, and tone. Myers doesan excellent job avoiding bad language while maintaining the vernacular andrhythms of the rich characters that he portrays. Myers has a knack forgiving his characters life and credibility. Myers manages to give a senseof adult versus youth dialect in leading us through the concrete realitiesof Harlem.

Although characters are repeated in the stories, sometimes asbackground and others as key characters, each story stands on its own andmay be read in any order without loss of continuity. In other words, thestories do not build on one another like chapters in a novel.

Each ofthe ten stories strikes a chord in the reader and "shows" rather than just"tells" you the pressures, fears, and joys of living in the "hood." Humanemotion is itself a character throughout the collection and the story linesare expertly constructed to avoid being preachy while relating theme andthe moral undercurrent of the human struggle with choices that must be madeevery day on 145th street.

I particularly enjoyed "Big Joe's Funeral"and "A Christmas Story." Big Joe is a restaurant owner and has his ownparticular, unique, and large view of what a funeral ought to be about. TheChristmas tale delicately balances the spirit of Christmas against thedesire of a policeman to separate his personal life from the harshness ofthe beat he walks.

Every story in this collection is interesting andentertaining. As a sampler, it has whetted my appetite for more of WalterDean Myers' books. I highly recommend this collection for young or oldreaders and those who simply appreciate a good story spun by an author witha natural voice.

Posted on August 22, 2010

Toni Mutone says...

This novel is very interesting there is always new events happening, the book never gets boring. The characters are destined to do anything to get there point across. This Harlem setting novel is unpredictable and its jaw dropping. All ten stories in the novel are amusing.In one of the stories it shows how an urban community goes through rough times, but gets through it by sticking together and trusting one another. Walter Dean Myers is an amazing writer, he knows what the readers like. The author takes his readers through 145th street and allows them to exprience events that doesn't happen anywhere else in the world.

Posted on August 22, 2010

Clarisa Verble says...

In the book called 145th street,things happend that don't happen anywhere else in the world.There is mysteries and secrets on that street that nobody has revealed.People on 145th street acted different.Billy is the best fighter of the street.The author of the book is Walter Dean Mayers.

I like this book because I like the weird things that happend on that street.I also like the book because in some parts of the book there was action, like the part when Billy and Vegas were fighting, Billy was throwing right and left shots to Vegas' face.What I like the most about the book was the short story called,Block party 145th street style, because it has a wedding with a lot of action.

I recommend this book to teenagers because its like a middle school book.Also I recommend this book to teenagers because is a good book that talks about 14 or 15 year old kids, it has action and funny things that grab your mind so you want to read more.

Posted on August 23, 2010

Willard Dasgupta says...

This book of short stories reads like an interconnected novel, a snapshot of a place as well as the people who live there.Rarely is geography as integral to plot, and to the lives of the characters, in YA fiction as it is with Myers's work.145th Street is a shining example of the short storymedium; from the hurt hopelessness in "Fighter" to the slapstickhumor in "The Streak," each of these stories is a jewel thatjoins into a perfect treasure.Authentic voices, in raging pain and injubilation, make this one of the most uplifting books so far this year

Posted on August 23, 2010

Novella Devitto says...

I had to read this book 4 school and I thought it waz gonna be really stupid. But then I started to read through it and I really enjoyed it. I owned Mouse Rap but I neva read it, and I just finished Slam. But this book iz different than the others. Even though Slam is my all time favorite this book waz really good. I liked how Walter Dean Myers put the characters in real life situations and showed how they dealt it out.

Posted on August 25, 2010

Criselda Saroop says...

So much attention has been given to Christopher Paul Curtis lately, but it seems to me the prolific work of Walter Dean Myers needs a loud cheering section--so here goes.Two customer reviews, "Another Stunning Work..." and "Good Stories Spun..." give thorough synopses of this anthology. I'll add that my middle schoolers LOVED these stories when I bought the book last spring, and I plan on reading it with my seventh graders later this year too. The stories are combinations of slick, sad, silly, and serious, and therefore one story was able to hook the kids into reading another and another.One 12 year old boy in my class was so intrigued by a character named Peaches--described as "so fine"--that he paid attention to everything else we read from the book hoping she'd turn up again. And she did! Walter Dean Myers just has a keen sense of the world and his gift with words makes reading this, and any, book by him a pleasure.

Posted on August 29, 2010

Gearldine Uzee says...

I use this book for student journaling. In the high school studentsrelate to the stories wanting to participate in class discussion as well as expressing their ideas, concerns and comments in journal format.

Posted on August 30, 2010

Lazaro Bauerkemper says...

I really liked the book because it realated or reminded me of being back home! Back home it seemed like everywhere around where i stayed everybody knew everybody, and thats the way the book was. On 145th street it seemed like everything happened and when it did everybody knew about it! i Also like the book because i like how he makes it sound like we're all sitting around listening to someone tell what happened earlier that day! The stories i really injoyed were Big Joe's funeral, and The Baddest Dog in harlem! I m really loking forward to reading more of his books!

Posted on August 30, 2010