Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff

by Walter Dean Myers

When Francis (shortly to be known as Stuff) moved to 116th Street, he didn't know anyone, but that didn't last long. Cool Clyde, Fast Sam, Gloria, BB, Angel and Maria, Chalky and Carnation Charley - they grew close that one eventful year, and nothing was ever like it again. That was the year that modern science got them all in jail; the year Stuff fell in love and was unfaithful; the year Cool Clyde and Fast Sam won the dance contest - almost.

In this funny and energetic book, Walter Dean Myers brings to life with warmth and good humor an unusual group of boys and girls, who together grow to know the meaning of friendship.

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, School, Middle Grade, African American, Childrens

Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

pseudonyms:
Stacie Williams
Stacie Johnson

Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia but moved to Harlem with his foster parents at age three. He was brought up and went to public school there. He attended Stuyvesant High School until the age of seventeen when he joined the army.

After serving four years in the army, he worked at various jobs and earned a BA from Empire State College. He wrote full time after 1977.

Walter wrote from childhood, first finding success in 1969 when he won the Council on Interracial Books for Children contest, which resulted in the publication of his first book for children, Where Does the Day Go?, by Parent's Magazine Press. He published over seventy books for children and young adults. He received many awards for his work in this field including the Coretta Scott King Award, five times. Two of his books were awarded Newbery Honors. He was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award and the Virginia Hamilton Award. For one of his books, Monster, he received the first Michael Printz Award for Young Adult literature awarded by the American Library Association. Monster and Autobiography of My Dead Brother were selected as National Book Award Finalists.

In addition to the publication of his books, Walter contributed to educational and literary publications. He visited schools to speak to children, teachers, librarians, and parents. For three years he led a writing workshop for children in a school in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Walter Dean Myers was married, had three grown children and lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. He died on July 1, 2014, following a brief illness. He was 76 years old.

Reviews

[Gerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named francis A.K.A. Stuff. Francis had just moved to 116th Street in Harlem. They called him Stuff because to the other kids he had just met called dunking stuff. So francis was basically the best lil player out there. The book is teaching other how to be a good friend to one another. Some of the characters in the book are Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Gloria. Fast sam is very quick on his feet, Cool Cylde is the very calm one in the group and does not like any drama, and Gloria, well you know how girls are. She likes to start drama and likes to play around a lot. They all stick with each other through thick and thin. No matter what happens. I think book is a very good book for us to read. i think that you should take time to read this book the characters act just like you and me. I think we could all sort of relate to this book and might even have friends that might remind us of the characters in the book.
SO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!

[Mark Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was great it made me think about the life I had when I moved into Calumet Township. People asked me the same question that they asked him, Can you Dunk? The only reason they asked me was because I was tall and chubby and I wasn't that good.

Making friends came quick to him as it did for me it was one of things that you like or don't like when you move in different areas. This book taught me that the people that like all the same type of thing that you like can be closer than family.

You are your own person and you make your own dissensions. Sometimes that choice is good no matter the outcome. That also brought me too the fact that every area is different.

[Kevin Merced · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book ws touching and i would recomend it to you because its abot sad and happy and death and other stuff(get it?)

[Emilia.andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because this was out of my comfert vone. I like the scene were Clyde's ear was bit off

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic by one of the greatest YA authors of all time. This book was nominated for a Coretta Scott King award, the first of eleven times that Myers was nominated or won the award. The book is definitely for middle-schoolers or older, and covers some "mature themes" (sex, drugs) but does so in a really healthy way. Really excellent book.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book is a 4 because of the detail and how it is beautifully written and presented by Walter Dean Myers. I do think that Ms. Myers could have improved on grammar because on chapter 3 page 15 the second paragraph it is MISSING A PERIOD.

[Chelsea Coca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic story. Very nostalgic! Oldie but goodie!

[Keaton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just little pointless stories about child hood. I didn’t really like it overall, but the little stories can be slightly entertaining.

[Krystalrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a child in elementary school and 30 years later the story sits fresh in my brain. Great pick for teachers to use.

[Rylee Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book for a book club I’m apart of through work for 7/8th graders. This book touches on a wide range of topics and I was surprised by how well written it was.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads Feature Request: I'd like to jot down how a book wound up on my to-read shelf, to give props when I finally get around to reading them, years later. In this case, I forgot :( I vaguely remember stumbling across someone writing about Walter Dean Myers after he died a few years ago, and how reading his books as a pre-teenager inspired them to be a better person, possibly even referencing this one specifically. I didn't remember reading anything of his back in my admittedly 99.9%-white school years, so figured I'd fill a hole in my education...

It's clearly a kid's book, but it doesn't patronize them, instead totally capturing how kids talk and think at the stage before toxic crap like grudges start. It doesn't shy away from hard topics, or preach, but rather the characters just talk out different peerspectives (mispelled that, but leaving it) of what's going on, or give each other space, but are always available, present for each other, then eventually compassionate and forgiving.

Synchronicitally (--not a word, but should be), the day after I finished it, my sister-in-law randomly mentioned Myers as being my nephew's favorite author when he was around the target age. So at least education got better (or was better in some ways closer to the city).

[Proudly Mexican(Cris/bowser) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Francis(or nicknamed Stuff)who moves into 116th Street in Harlem. He soon makes friends when he meets Sam(Fast Sam), Clyde(Cool Clyde), and Gloria. They make a club called The Good People and there they help each other out with any problems. They are so close that year that it is the same year they all get into jail because of modern science, Stuff falls in love with Clyde's sister Kitty, and Clyde and Sam almost win a dance contest. Then Sam, Clyde, and Stuff get into the basketball team. When Stuff, Sam, and Clyde go to a party, they see one of the dance contestants, Carnation Charley, high and drugged. When Charley's girlfriend tells Sam, Clyde and Stuff to go to Charley's house and get him a package from his housebecause he was captured by some people. In the end Charley dies and Stuff feels sorry for him because Charley never listened to the club's advises.
What I liked about this book is that it has a strong theme. The theme is that there are people who can help you out and then there's people who can get you into a lot of trouble. My rating for this book is four stars.

[Beverly Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'am currently reading this book and so far I'am very well interested in this book because of the well thought out details. At first when I reading this book i did'nt understand the language that the author was trying to give to the readers until i found out what year era of time he was in. Francis also known as "Stuff" is a very interesting character that i feel that everyone in their childhood days could relate to. being the new kid on the block and making new friends he is slowly but surely fitting his way in with his new friends. I was very impress that they wanted to make a group and making up a crew name. " Atleast lets make it the 116th street good people", i think that name stands out a lot because they wanted to feel like anyone can join in the crew aslong as they are not judgmental and open hearted. I'm a huge fan of Walter Dean Myers Novels so i wasnt so surprise of his books because every book i wrote I was impressed

[Quon Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really a fun,exiting, heavyhearted book. The main character Francis who moves in and immediately makes friends. he meets cool Clyde who is my favorite. he's a cool low-key kind of guy. Gloria the female out of the bunch and she's no different from most gals. she attracts nothing but scenes. so i guess you can call her a drama queen. fast Sam the fast guy he reminds me of myself but he just isn't as "smooth" as me. together they have the best adventures but at times it get devastating. going to jail, violent fights and more.. but no matter what they stuck together and watched each others backs when times was tough. which is why i enjoyed every second of the book. it teaches you what true friends are about and limits that they will cross for each other. i enjoyed it! READ THIS BOOK!!!

[Omar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a spectacular book. I love how throughout the book, the moral stayed the same. It's all about never giving up. You have to follow your dreams. The main character Francis, aka. Stuff, follows his dream of playing the saxophone. Sam receives a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Arizona. Lastly, Clyde works hard in school and passes high school. Suff wasn't always noticed, but the group of friends always acknowleged him when needed. His was a feel good book that I enjoyed reading a lot. Towards the end, I couldn't even put it down. I gave this book 5 stars because I would reccomend it o anyone. Walter Dean Myers is truly a great author who knows what he is writing about. Great book!

[Angel Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book was one of the best Realistic Fiction story I read.It includes some funny and sad moments.I gave this book a 5 star because of its character details,Also because of the setting and how the story goes.It's pretty sad and it's funny at the same time.Sometime Stuff is crying but then the next sentence they are laughing.I think this book is very good for level y readers.This Book Has great potential with how the story goes on.I think this book could be amazing for people who likes love,Kissing a bit,and most of all friendship.Read this book im telling u it's the best book u wiull ever read.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Francis. He moves to a new apartment. There, he meets "fast Sam" and "cool Clyde". He meets more people during the book. He got the nickname "Stuff" because he told Clyde and Sam that he can dunk in basketball. He failed miserably.

I have no connections with the book.

I give the book this book 3 stars. I give it that because it wasn't all that good. It was a little boring. I recommend this book to anyone who likes stories about basketball and gang.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid read for younger readers, this is actually a nice companion to Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street. Set in inner-city New York in the 1970's, Myers' book is a series of vignettes about a group of young teens wrestling with issues of friendship, death, parents, sex, and drugs. It's not especially deep, but I've always admired Myers' style, and here he does an especially good job of capturing the slangy patter of urban youth. Entertaining but unchallenging, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[Jake · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not one of my favorites that I have read in the past. I do like reading gang-related books but this one just didn't occur to be real, or anything happened that seemed as if it would in a place like Harlem. In the beginning a guy got his ear bit off, and that was alright, but then it just seemed like there was a fight every now and then, but with gangs in places like Harlem, there's more than just fights. In conclusion, I wouldn't reccomend this book to anyone.

[Alaina.caraballo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Francis (AKA stuff) doesn’t know anyone or anything when he first moves to 116th street in Harlem. But everything changes when he meets Fast Sam, cool Clyde and Gloria Stuff and the gang our closer. They get in jail 3 times. One for making noise, The other for trying to save an old ladies purse and the other for drugs. But that all brought them closer as Stuff fell in love with Clyde’s little sister, Kitty. They end up getting old and moving away.

[Shaliniekanhai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was all about there's people and then there's people this book was tell me and clyde and sam to go downtown and we were supposed to go down to buy me a new mouthpiece for my saw because we all had money .I had fourteen dollars,seven that i had saved by working in the A and P in the afternoons after school that is it i read

[Juliette Paredes · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WAS SOOO GOOD BECAUSE IT WAS BASICCLY ABOUT TEENS WHO GET INTO THE MINDS OF SEX AND DRUGS AND THEY THINK LIKE REGULLARY TEENS WHO ARE NOT FULLY MATURE YET, THEY GO THROUGH THIS AND I SAY TO MYSELF WHERE ARE THE PARENTS AT, GUESS WHAT, THE PARENTS ARE DEAD BUT THATS A HARD LIFE ON THEM. ANYWAY THIS BOOK IS VERY INTERESTING FOR TEENS TO LEARN AND HILARIOUS.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really meant for kids, but actually I thought the age range was for teenagers, because of the "stuff" the characters talked about in the book. But really, this book was just a real life story for every teenager alive probably, so it was pretty boring, and nothing caught my eye in the book, I would only recommend this book to other people if they like real life stories.

[Akilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounding up

This novel is told in episodic vignettes with each chapter covering a different event on the block. Once I figured that out, I liked the way the story was told. There's a lot of humor here along with the sadness that comes with day-to-day life of hanging out with a group of friends. Good stuff (no pun intended).

[Ronald.cruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great novel that shows how friendship can really mean something in life. It shows that life isn't all about work, work, and work. That it's good to have friends to have a laugh for once or to just be with someone.

[Shannon Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book back in 1978 when I was in the 4th grade. It was a great book then and I plan to have my children read it. It was a bit much for a 10 year old but I did learn a few things reading this book.

[Manny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the one of the best books I've ever read before. The part I liked was when they got into a fight and they bit his ear off. I think I will read this book again this summer. I recommend this book to other people a lot.

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reccomend this book to you because , it not only one topic, or one conflict, it is about kids who live on 116th street, and they are just through life together as they grow up, and go through their problems together. This book is funny, serious, dramatic, and could relate to other people's lives.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this with my class when I taught and they loved it.