Walter Dean Myers is the critically-acclaimed author of more than fifty books in a variety of genres, fiction and nonfiction as well as poetry. Some of his better known works include Monster, a novel about a Harlem teenager on trial for murder, and Fallen Angels, a coming-of-age story set on the front lines of the Vietnam War, which made the American Library Association's list of the 100 most challenged books of 1990-2000.

He has also published a spiritual follow-up to Fallen Angels titled Sunrise over Fallujah, set during the Second Gulf Conflict. Myers' more recent projects include Lockdown, a nonfiction book about a boy locked in a juvenile detention facility, and Kick, a novel co-written with a young man named Ross Workman about a young soccer player who finds himself in jail.

Myers is the five time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. He has also been the recipient of the Margret Edward Award, The Michael L. Printz Award, The American Library Association's Best Books for Young Adults Award, and the Council on Interracial Books for Children's Where Does the Day Go? Award.

He was born Walter Milton Myers, but later changed his middle name as a gesture of respect to his adoptive parents, who raised him after his mother died giving birth to his little sister. Myers grew up in Harlem and didn't do well in school. However, his teachers noticed his skill for writing, and before he dropped out of high school to join the military at age 17, one of them made him promise to keep writing no matter what.

Today Myers lives with his family in New Jersey and sits on the Board of Advisers of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. He is a fan of the New York Giants and enjoys playing the flute.