Cover of Darius Twig

Darius Twig

New York Timesbestselling author and Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers once again connects with teenagers everywhere in Darius & Twig, a novel about friendship and needing to live one's own dream. This touching and raw teen novel from the author of Monster, Kick, We Are America, Bad Boy, and many other celebrated literary works for children and teens is a Coretta Scott King Honor Book.

Read more

Darius and Twig are an unlikely pair: Darius is a writer whose only escape is his alter ego, a peregrine falcon named Fury, and Twig is a middle-distance runner striving for athletic success. But they are drawn together in the struggle to overcome the obstacles that life in Harlem throws at them. The two friends must face down bullies, an abusive uncle, and the idea that they'll be stuck in the same place forever.

Maria Russo, writing in the New York Times, included Darius & Twigon her list of "great kids' books with diverse characters." She commented: "The late Myers, one of the greats and a champion of diversity in children's books well before the cause got mainstream attention, is at his elegant, heartfelt best in this 2013 novel. It's about two friends growing up in Harlem, one a writer, one an athlete, facing daily challenges and trying to dream of a brighter future."

Audience
young adultchildrensadult
Length
medium · 208 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Darius Twig? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Darius Twig. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. When I Was the Greatest Shares young adult, realistic fiction, realistic
  2. How It Went Down Shares young adult, realistic fiction, the coretta scott king book awards
  3. The Tailypo: A Ghost Story Shares childrens, fiction
  4. Pieces Shares young adult, realistic fiction, realistic

“People who read Darius Twig tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Second Impact
  2. Gracias/Thanks
  3. Pinned
  4. Secret Pizza Party

“If you want more of the same (literary fiction about diversity), start with these.”

  1. A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
  2. The Battle of Jericho
  3. He Said, She Said
  4. What Can(t) Wait

“If it was the realistic fiction that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Girls
  2. Cheater
  3. All American Boys
  4. The Ruling Class

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. All the Colors of the Earth
  2. The Boy Who Runs: The Odyssey of Julius Achon
  3. The Champion's Comeback: How Great Athletes Recover, Reflect, and Re-Ignite
  4. Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth