Harlem Summer By Walter Dean Myers - 1627 Words

Harlem Summer is a novel written by Walter Dean Myers. The story takes place in Harlem, New York in 1925 during the Harlem Renaissance. The author envelopes the reader into a rich African American culture of jazz musicians, poets, writers, Negro leaders, and surprisingly gangsters. Mark Purvis is a sixteen-year-old saxophonist. Mark resides with his parents and older brother. They live in the neighborhood with his idol, Fats Waller s, sister - Edie. He has big dreams of becoming a famous jazz musician. When Fats offers Mark an opportunity to earn five dollars, he immediately accepts the job without any hesitation. Mark thought - why not? I can earn some money, and possibly become friends with Fats. With any luck, we will record an album together on Black Swan Records. Mark solicits his friend Henry to help with the job. Henry is part of Mark s music trio. Mark and Henry are unaware of the trouble that they are about to encounter. They meet up with Fats and his companion, Crab Cakes, at the docks to go pick up the load. After crossing the Hudson River, they arrive at a warehouse in New Jersey. Mark and Henry discovered that they were hired to help load and unload an illegal shipment of whiskey. Reluctantly, Mark and Henry do the job and head back to Harlem. Crab Cakes was instructed to deliver the whiskey to the next destination, but instead he disappears with the moving truck. Both Mark and Henry were terrified after discovering that the truck full of whiskey belonged toShow MoreRelatedFallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers1376 Words   |  6 Pagesthat decision every time that they were in battle, but as for Richard Perry, a seventeen-year-old, African American just out of a Harlem High School, had to ask that question solely to himself. Perry, a talented and bright young man put away his dreams of college and becoming a writer because of the unfortunate circumstance he is in. He lives in poverty in the slums of Harlem. His single mother is abandoned by her husb and and this leaves Perry and his younger brother Kenny without a father and a second