Guy Lamolinara from the Library of Congress speaks with author Walter Dean Myers, who will appear at the 2012 Library of Congress National Book Festival on Sept. 22-23, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Biography

Critically acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers has drawn from his own background and interests to produce more than 70 books for young people. He has been writing for and about teens for more than 30 years. Using meticulous research and his own life as a springboard, he employs literature to address hard issues facing youth, and to question their values and decisions. For his work he has received many awards and honors, including two Newbery Honor Book Awards (“Somewhere in the Darkness” and “Scorpions”), five Coretta Scott King Awards (“Slam,” “Now Is Our Time,” “The African-American Struggle for Freedom,” “Fallen Angels,” “Motown & Didi” and “The Young Landlords”), the first Michael J. Printz Award and a Margaret A. Edwards Award. His most recent book is “Autobiography of My Dead Brother.”