★ "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
In nearly 60 poems, Myers (145th Street) treats readers to a tour of Harlem's past and present, its hopes and fears, through the voices of narrators young and old. Together they create a pastiche of the community's fixtures, the church ("Wake up Lazurus! Wake up Paul!/ Wake the congregation and lift their hearts"), the barber shop for men, the hairdresser for women ("My mouth is sealed, you don't even see a crack,/ 'Cause I ain't the kind to talk behind nobody's back"), rent parties (where people gathered to eat, drink and to help the host pay the rent) and Sylvia's restaurant. "Clara Brown's Testimony," parts I-IV provides a continuity through the collected impressions, as she describes her love for Harlem, through heartbreak (when she and her sister do not make the Cotton Club chorus line, she's told it's because her skin is too dark: "That was the day I learned that being black wasn't no simple thing, even in Harlem") and more often joy. Myers offers differing perspectives on milestone events such as Jackie Robinson joining the Dodgers, as well as subjects closer to home, such as young love, or a pairing of poems by a father and his drug-addict daughter. Another especially moving cluster of poems rotates among three WWII vets from the 369th Infantry, known as the "Harlem Hellfighters," one of them blinded by a Southern sheriff after the war, on their way 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. Ages 12-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Gr 6 Up-Myers's skill with characterization and voice are apparent as he models Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology (Sagebrush, 1962) to bring Harlem to life for readers. A complexity of experiences comes through vividly in the varying poetic styles, from the Deacon Macon R. Allen: "Don't give me no whispering church/Don't be mumbling nothing to my Lord/You came in crying and you going out crying/So don't be holding back the word" to 14-year-old Didi Taylor: "I'd love to live on Sugar Hill/Be as rich as I could be/Then all the folks from down the way/Would have to envy me/I'd stick my hincty pinky out/Put my hincty nose in the air/Get a hincty chauffeur to drive my car/And a white girl to do my hair." Selected black-and-white photos from different time periods accompany some of the poems, but the connection to the subjects is often slight. While there are occasional references to historical events or people, this collection can be enjoyed without knowing them. The rich and exciting text will give readers a flavor of the multiplicity of times and peoples of Harlem, and the more than 50 voices will stay with them, resurfacing as their understanding of the context develops. Use this title to supplement classroom presentations, for individual or choral recitation, or simply suggest that teens find a good chair, get comfortable, and listen to what the people have to tell them.-Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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," of little girls and blind old veterans, poets and mechanics, boxers and nannies, ballplayers and blues singers, laborers and jazz artists. Echoes of Cullen, Hughes, and Hurston, Baldwin, Wright, and DuBois, Marcus, Malcolm, and Martin, Booker T., Van Der Zee, and the Duke reverberate in this chorus of voices, modeled on Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology. The volume celebrates the varied music of the neighborhood-plaintive, joyful, expansive, sly, and bluesy-and photographs from the author's collection offer a superb visual complement. One of Myers's best-and that's saying a lot. Sure to be a classic. (Poetry. 12+)
In his introduction, author Walter Dean Myers explains that his collection of poems about Harlem was inspired by SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY. The poems in HERE IN HARLEM were made to be performed—listeners hear a chorus of voices from different eras and walks of life, full of joy and sorrow, pride and pain as they shed light on the African-American experience. Thirteen talented narrators share their stories, and all of them bring utterly authentic emotions to their vocal performances. The package includes a lovely print book, but listeners won't need to see the words or photographs to be swept up by this beautiful, masterful recording. J.M.D. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2011 Audies Winner, SYNC 2015 © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
