Somewhere in the Darkness

Myers, Walter Dean. Somewhere in the Darkness. New York: Scholastic Press, 1992.


At the beginning of this novel we are introduced to Jimmy Little - a 14 year old boy who lives with his grandmother, Mama Jean, (his mother died when he was a child) in Harlem in a run-down building. Jimmy is bright and helps out around the apartment, but does not consistently attend school. After returning home one day, Jimmy encounters his father, Crab, who has returned from prison after 9 years and is set on taking Jimmy with him to Chicago where there is a parole job waiting. Jimmy reluctantly leaves with his father and eventually learns that his father is sick and has escaped from prison. Although Crab insists he was falsely convicted of murder, Jimmy has his doubts. Jimmy and his father travel from place to place as his father steals cars to make money on the way to find an old friend who can tell Jimmy about Crab’s innocence. Despite his father’s criminal ways, Jimmy eventually begins to feel for his father, and even learn a bit about his own roots in Alabama. As the situation sours more and more, Crab is eventually arrested and passes on in the hospital after trying to give Jimmy advice. As Jimmy travels back to New York, his thoughts turn to a time when he might have his own son, and he feels unprepared, yet knows he will want share all of his thoughts with that son so that there is a lasting and honest connection.

This is a short - only 168 pages - but very well-written novel. The sentences are short for the most part, and the novel contains plenty of dialogue. I believe the book could be used in grades 6-8 and assigned for independent reading. Myers’ writing if rife with imagery, and the main characters are well-developed. The story can be a starting point for discussions about poverty and nontraditional/single-parent homes. There is also a lot of room for talking about coming of age and Jimmy’s yearning to “have a mind that had answers where his own mind had questions” (158).