Somewhere In The Darkness - Softcover

Myers, Walter Dean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0590341863 ISBN 13: 9780590341868

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 1997

Synopsis

Jimmy's doing all right. He's fourteen, lives in Harlem with Mama Jean, and is managing to hold his own in a tough and brutal world. One day Jimmy's world changes when, in a dark hallway of his apartment building, a tall, thin man appears. The man is his father, Crab, who left nine years ago.Crab wants to be part of Jimmy's life again, but Jimmy's not so sure what he wants.

About this title

About the Author

Walter Dean Myers is the 2012 - 2013 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. He is the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author an award-winning body of work which includes, SOMEWHERE IN THE DARKNESS, SLAM!, and MONSTER. Mr. Myers has received two Newbery Honor medals, five Coretta Scott King Author Awards, and three National Book Award Finalists citations. In addition, he is the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.

From Kirkus Reviews

An eminent author who's excelled with both tragedy (Scorpions, 1988, Newbery Honor) and funny, lighthearted novels writes in a serious vein but offers a realistic gleam of hope. Jimmy, 14, has been raised by his beloved, dependable ``Mama Jean,'' a friend of parents he doesn't remember; his mother is dead, and his dad, ``Crab,'' is in prison for killing a man in an armed robbery. Suddenly Crab shows up, claiming that he's on parole and has a job in Chicago. Jimmy agrees to go with him, but Crab's lies begin to unravel even before they leave New York: he has kidney failure, and has escaped from a prison hospital (``When they start operating on an inmate, I don't know what they'd be thinking''); the job is an illusion. The two go on to Arkansas, where Crab hopes old friend Rydell will vouch for his innocence: Crab was convicted of murder as the result of another associate's plea-bargaining. Rydell, who once betrayed Crab with his silence, betrays him again by calling the police; Crab surrenders, then dies soon after in the hospital. Myers builds a poignant picture here of a failed man whose clumsy reaching out to his son comes too late to make a real bond. Yet Crab does leave a legacy: going home to Mama Jean, Jimmy--a bright, honest, loving boy who has recently been floundering in his inner-city school and exhibiting signs of real depression--resolves that the next generation will be different: ``He would know just how he was like his son...and where their souls touched and where they didn't.'' Sober, thought-provoking, rich in insight and detail: another splendid achievement. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0590341863
• ISBN 13: 9780590341868
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 176