Available Formats
Scorpions
By (Author) Walter Dean Myers
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
HarperCollins
1st October 2025
United States
Children
Fiction
813.54
Paperback
240
The thought-provoking Newbery Honor Book about loyalty, freedom, and what it means to be a man in 1980s Harlem that has gripped generations of readers.
Jamal has been struggling since his older brother, Randy, was arrested. His mom has to work around the clock to try to earn the money to pay for Randys appeal, and though Jamal is now the man of the house, he cant even stand up to bullies like his school principal. How is he going to help his mom come up with the two thousand dollars they need
Before long, Jamal gets a visit from Randys friend Mack, who runs with the infamous Scorpions gang that traffics drugs all over Harlem. Mack offers a solution to Jamals problems: Take Randys place as the leader of the Scorpions. Get the money to pay for Randys case. Gain respect and notoriety he cant get any other way.
Jamal knows that the Scorpions are trouble and wants to do the right thingbut the choice may not be up to him.
Walter Dean Myers was aNew York Timesbestselling author, Printz Award winner, five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award,two-time Newbery Honor recipient, and theNational Ambassador for Young People's Literature.Maria Russo, writing in theNew York Times, called Myers "one of the greats and a champion of diversity in childrens books well before the cause got mainstream attention."
Walter Dean Myers was the New York Times bestselling author of Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award; a National Ambassador for Young People's Literature; and an inaugural NYC Literary Honoree. Myers was recognized by every single major award in the field of children's literature. He was the author of two Newbery Honor Books and six Coretta Scott King Book Award winners. He was the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults and a three-time National Book Award finalist as well as the first ever recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.