On April 13th, our middle school students at St. Aloysius welcomed acclaimed writer Walter Dean Myers with excitement and anticipation. Mr. Myers is an award-winning writer who has published over 100 books, including young adult novels and nonfiction books.

Mr. Myers spent time with both our middle school Bowman girls and our Gonzaga boys, speaking about his upbringing in Harlem, his career, and the writing process, including the opportunity to work on books with his son, Christopher Myers, who is an award-winning illustrator.

Mr. Myers shared many fascinating stories and insights with our students. He talked about his love for books at an early age, but also about his inability to identify with the stories and authors that were available to him. This eventually led him to set many of his stories in Harlem and to write about African American and Latino characters. In fact, many of his stories are based on his life experiences or the experiences of people he knows. He wanted to give children growing up in neighborhoods like the one he did the opportunity to read stories to which they can relate.

Mr. Myers spoke with the students about the opportunities he had to meet Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, both exciting times in his life. He also talked about his experiences visiting juveniles in prison, bringing them books and helping them to read and write.

Our middle schoolers were excited and inspired by Mr. Myers visit. They asked him many questions, and he covered many engaging subjects. It was an honor for our school and our students to have a celebrated writer give so much of his time to our children.