Harlem Summer

Harlem Summer
by Walter Dean Myers

HARLEM SUMMER by

Walter Dean Myers

Category: Historical

Age Recommendation: Grades 6+

Release Date: 3/1/07

Publisher: Scholastic

Reviewed by:

Christian C.

Rating: 5 Stars

It’s the summer of 1925 in Harlem, a summer that sixteen-year-old Mark Purvis will never forget. In just a months

time,

Mark will get to meet the best and the worst people of New York City.

Mark gets a job at

The Crisis

, a magazine that promotes and encourages “New Negroes." The magazine was part

of a

movement created during that time with a mission to discover talented persons of color -- poets, novelists, and

musicians --

and show them to the world.

But Mark is not so sure that he wants to become a “New Negro.” What he really wants to do is become a famous

jazz

player and play the saxophone with his band. So when “Fats,” a well known piano player who made records,

offers him

and his friend, Henry, what sounds like an “innocent” job loading trucks in New Jersey, Mark and Henry

don’t think twice.

This could be the opportunity they were looking for, their big break, a golden chance to be with

"Fats" and tell him all about

their jazz band. Maybe he could even help them get a record deal.

What Mark didn’t know is that the job was actually for the most dangerous man and leading bootlegger, Dutch

Schultz.

And Mark didn’t know that what they helped load was illegal alcohol, and that the truck driver was going to

drive away, all

of a sudden, with the merchandise. And now Dutch Schultz wants his money back, and he wants

Mark and Henry to pay

for it.

Will Mark get the money for Dutch Shultz? Will Mark become a "New Negro?" Will he be able to keep his job at

The

Crisis

? Or will Mark end up traveling the wrong path? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Every single word in Walter Dean Myers’ book flows effortlessly in this entertaining novel. He makes writing look

easy.

HARLEM SUMMERS is a book that will strike a chord with all readers. Parents will love the lack of cursing and

sex often

seen in young adult literature. (Although, to be honest, I think that the author could have used some more

cursing to make

the dialogue sound a little more realistic.) Teachers and librarians will LOVE this novel that

complements perfectly what we

studied in 8th-grade social studies. I’m sure that this book will soon be part of many