Thalia Kids' Book Club: Walter Dean Myers' Riot

The two-time National Book Award finalist discusses his historical novel about the New York City Draft Riots in 1863 with middle graders and teens ages 12 and up. The event includes a discussion with the audience.

"Myers is arguably one of the most important writers of children's books of our age." -Kirkus Reviews

Performance playlist:

Reading with the Audience
Walter Dean Myers

Conversation
Walter Dean Myers and Madeline Cohen

Madeline Cohen has been Symphony Space's Education Director since 1989. She directs the Curriculum Arts Project (CAP), which gives thousands of students insight into the social studies curriculum through interaction with the arts and artists in the classroom, at museums, and at Peter Norton Symphony Space. She co-organizes Symphony Space's All Write! program for adult literacy students, modeled after Symphony Space's series Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story, and is the co-director of the Thalia Kids' Book Club Camp, launched this past summer.

Walter Dean Myers' novels for young readers include Monster, a New York Times bestseller; the Newbery Honor-winning books Somewhere in the Darkness and Scorpions; Shooter, the basis for the 2009 film Case 219; and the Coretta Scott King Award-winning books Fallen Angels and Slam. An avid student of history, Mr. Myers collects photographs and documents on African American life before the 1950s. His collection has been featured in both his own nonfiction books and in several American history documentaries. When not writing or collecting, Mr. Myers spends his time cooking, playing the flute, or attending the theater. He lives with his wife and cat in New Jersey, but you may visit him online at walterdeanmyers.net.