News Crew

Eighth grade is hard enough, but when you're a Cruiser, you're really put to the test. The launch of a new middle-grade series from bestselling award-winner Walter Dean Myers. Zander and his friends, Kambui, LaShonda, and Bobbi start their own newspaper, The Cruiser, as a means for speaking out, keeping the peace, and expressing what they believe. When the school launches a mock Civil War, Zander and his friends are forced to consider the true meaning of democracy and what it costs to stand up for a cause. The result is nothing they could have expected, and everything they could have hoped for.

Bestselling award-winning author Walter Dean Myers is back with a new book in his acclaimed Cruisers series. The Cruiser, an alternative newspaper published by Zander and his crew of middle school misfits, is alive and well. And now there's plenty to report on when LaShonda, one of the Cruisers, steps into the spotlight with her costume designs for an upcoming play. LaShonda's designs get rave reviews, but she soon learns that show business is filled with challenges and choices. LaShonda is forced to consider what's more important--fame, or loyalty to her autistic brother. Whether she gets a standing ovation or the curtain pulled down on her is up to LaShonda. And she can't help but wonder if the Cruisers have got her back and will be there for her whether she's center stage or waiting in the wings. With signature humor and thought-provoking questions, Walter Dean Myers once again delivers a Cruisers novel that will keep readers at the edge of their seats, and have them applauding after the drama ends on the book's last page.

Walter Dean Myers's Cruisers series keeps going strong! The Cruisers are in trouble -- again. The freedom of expression they've enjoyed by publishing their own school newspaper, THE CRUISER, has spread all the way to England, where kids from a school "across the pond" are now contributors to their own school's most talked-about publication. When photos start to go alongside the articles written by kids, things get suspicious. Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, Bobbi -- and a bunch of students from Harlem's DaVinci Academy and London's Phoenix School -- come to learn that words and pictures in a newspaper don't always tell the whole story. With his signature on-point pacing and whip-smart characters, award-winning author Walter Dean Myers delivers another awesome book about the Cruisers, a group of middle-school misfits who are becoming the coolest kids in the city.

In the second book of the CRUISERS series, Walter Dean Myers explores the world of competitive chess as seen through the eyes of a group of middle school misfits. Sidney Aronofsky is one of the best chess players under age 16. When he's arrested for trying to buy drugs, it comes as a total surprise to those who know him. The expectations of parents, schools, and tutors pressure the young players. Sidney loves and wants to play chess, but dislikes the constant spotlight. He thinks that if he appears to be involved in drugs he'll be excused from playing on the school's team. In this book Zander and his crew are back, using the Cruiser school newspaper express their frustrations and triumphs.