Super Short Summary

Bad Boy: A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers chronicles his early years growing up in a racially mixed, working-class family in 1940s and '50s Harlem. Myers details his childhood struggles with a speech impediment, school challenges, and family financial difficulties, but his passionate love for reading and writing leads him to eventually overcome these obstacles, enlisting in the Army and later becoming a successful writer. The memoir includes instances of bullying, physical altercations, and encounters with a man engaged in dangerous activities.