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Guests | February 6, 2012

Nathan Englander: IMG Bookscape

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[Editor's note: Don't miss Nathan Englander at the City of Books on Friday, February 17. See our events calendar for all the details.] It's been... Continue »
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Autobiography of My Dead Brother

by Walter Dean Myers

Autobiography of My Dead Brother Cover

ISBN13: 9780060582913
ISBN10: 006058291x
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Less Than Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The thing was that me and Rise were blood brothers, but sometimes I really didn't know him. . . .

And so Jesse fills his sketchbook with drawings and portraits of his blood brother, Rise, and his comic strip, Spodi Roti and Wise, as he makes sense of the complexities of friendship, loyalty, and loss in a neighborhood where drive–bys, vicious gangs, and abusive cops are everyday realities.

Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers delivers an unforgettable novel about life's hardest lessons, illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Christopher Myers.

Review:

"Myers mines the themes he explored in his Scorpions and Monster here, but with less subtlety. Jesse, 15, chronicles the demise of his 'blood brother,' Rise, in the titular illustrated 'autobiography.' While readers do not see enough of their early friendship to understand why Jesse continues to care for Rise, what unfolds more credibly is the growing friendship between the narrator and CJ. Like Jesse, CJ joins the benign-seeming Counts, a group going back more than 40 years to the days of 'black social clubs.' However, another group member has plans other than social get-togethers. Soon Mason (who 'just felt like trouble') holds up a bodega and, after he lands in jail, expects the Counts to 'rough up' the store owner so the man won't testify. Rise winds up dealing coke, while Jesse, his mother and a cop restate the book's message that 'almost everything that was going down wrong in the hood was based on people dealing.' Jesse's parents seem vague, and the motives of Rise's murderer, a kid called Little Man remain unclear. But perhaps these elements simply bolster the seemingly random acts of violence in Jesse's world. What comes through clearly is that CJ and Jesse have a way out — CJ through his musical talents and Jesse with his artwork, nicely demonstrated in Christopher Myers's black-and-white drawings, as well as in the father-son team's clever comic strips. Ages 14-up." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
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About the Author

Walter Dean Myers is a New York Timesbestselling and critically acclaimed author who has garnered much respect and admiration for his fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people. Winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award, he is considered one of the preeminent writers for children. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his family.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
crowyhead, August 29, 2008 (view all comments by crowyhead)
Walter Dean Myers has done it again. This is the touching, realistic story of a young man, Jesse, growing up in a neighborhood fraught with violence, who must rely on his family, friends, and his own good sense in order to survive and prosper. When his oldest friend, Rise, starts getting involved in drug-dealing and violent crime, Jesse is almost unsure whether to truly believe it's happening, since Rise has always spoken out against drugs and gangs. But Rise thinks he sees a way to get out of the neighborhood, a way to make something of himself, and Jesse must decide exactly where his loyalties lie. One of the highlights of the book is that Jesse is a budding artist, and Walter Dean Myers's son, Christopher Myers, has amply illustrated this novel with Jesse's illustrations, notebook doodles, and comic strips. It's a wonderful, realistic book, and it's beautifully executed.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780060582913
Author:
Myers, Christopher A.
Publisher:
Amistad
Illustrator:
Myers, Christopher A.
Illustrator:
Myers, Christopher
Author:
Myers, Christopher
Author:
by Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers
Subject:
Friendship
Subject:
Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General
Subject:
Social Situations - Death & Dying
Subject:
Social Situations - Violence
Subject:
Social Situations - Drugs, Alcohol, & Substance Abuse
Subject:
Gangs
Subject:
People & Places - United States - African-American
Subject:
Social Issues - Death & Dying
Subject:
Social Issues - Violence
Subject:
Situations / Drugs, Alcohol, Substance Abuse
Subject:
African Americans
Subject:
Children s Young Adult-Social Issue Fiction-Violence
Subject:
Children s Young Adult-Social Issue Fiction
Copyright:
2005
Edition Description:
Hardcover
Publication Date:
20050816
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
from 9
Language:
English
Illustrations:
YES
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
9.20x6.32x.87 in. 1.03 lbs.
Age Level:
12-17
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Related Aisles

Autobiography of My Dead Brother Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$7.95 In Stock
Product details 224 pages Amistad Press - English 9780060582913 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Myers mines the themes he explored in his Scorpions and Monster here, but with less subtlety. Jesse, 15, chronicles the demise of his 'blood brother,' Rise, in the titular illustrated 'autobiography.' While readers do not see enough of their early friendship to understand why Jesse continues to care for Rise, what unfolds more credibly is the growing friendship between the narrator and CJ. Like Jesse, CJ joins the benign-seeming Counts, a group going back more than 40 years to the days of 'black social clubs.' However, another group member has plans other than social get-togethers. Soon Mason (who 'just felt like trouble') holds up a bodega and, after he lands in jail, expects the Counts to 'rough up' the store owner so the man won't testify. Rise winds up dealing coke, while Jesse, his mother and a cop restate the book's message that 'almost everything that was going down wrong in the hood was based on people dealing.' Jesse's parents seem vague, and the motives of Rise's murderer, a kid called Little Man remain unclear. But perhaps these elements simply bolster the seemingly random acts of violence in Jesse's world. What comes through clearly is that CJ and Jesse have a way out — CJ through his musical talents and Jesse with his artwork, nicely demonstrated in Christopher Myers's black-and-white drawings, as well as in the father-son team's clever comic strips. Ages 14-up." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
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