145th Street

Starred review from July 1, 2020

Gr 7 Up-This 20th-anniversary edition features a 10-reader cast performing the original 10 stories, with additional "Bonus Content" that includes a dozen "Tributes" by literary luminaries, including Christopher Myers, Lois Lowry, and Jason Reynolds, extolling the late, great Myers's enduring legacy to diverse children's literature. Myers's interlinked stories capture everyday lives of Harlem residents, made immediately resonant by notable narrators. Sullivan Jones reads "Big Joe's Funeral," in which Big Joe conducts his funeral before his death, and "A Story in Three Parts," about a great-grandmother's sobering history lesson shared with her addict descendent. Heather Alicia Simms reads "Block Party-145th Street Style," adding to Big Joe's story from the perspective of his stepdaughter-to-be's BFF. Adenrele Ojo narrates "Kitty and Mack," an aching celebration of first love in crisis. Bahni Turpin reads "A Christmas Story," which links a hesitant policeman with Harlem doyenne Mother Fletcher. Brandon Gill, Almarie Guerra, Johnny Heller, Dominic Hoffman, and Paula Parker affectingly read the rest. The concluding who-read-what reveal (although JaQwan J. Kelly remains mysteriously uncredited; process of elimination shows he's the energetic voice of "The Streak" and "Monkeyman") is a rare gift for curious listeners. VERDICT A gift for groupies and newbies alike.-Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 3, 2007
In a kind of literary Rear Window, Myers (The Blues of Flats Brown, reviewed above) uses 10 short stories to create snapshots of a pulsing, vibrant community with diverse ethnic threads, through all of its ups and downs. Beginning with the tale of a wry character who stages his own funeral on a sweltering 4th of July to celebrate the money he has received from canceling his life insurance policy, Myers then follows with a chilling story of a cop shootout gone wrong. Many of the stories are told through the voices of witty, intelligent teens; Jamie Farrell, in particular, is a standout as he relates his changing luck in "The Streak" and makes other cameo appearances. But even the more poignant stories told in the third person--such as that of Billy Giles, a middling fighter hired by the local gym to make contenders look good, and "Angela's Eyes," infused with superstition, in which Angela possesses the ability to foresee death and destruction through her late father's eyes--keep an inviting, conversational tone. Myers creates an overall effect of sitting on the front stoop swapping stories of the neighborhood. Most readers will find that they could settle in for hours and take it all in. Ages 12-up.

October 29, 2001
In a starred review, PW called this collection of 10 stories set in Harlem, "a kind of literary Rear Window. Myers creates snapshots of a pulsing, vibrant community with diverse ethnic threads, through all of its ups and downs." Ages 12-up.