Riot

by Walter Dean Myers

During a long, hot July in 1863, the worst race riots the United States has ever seen erupt in New York City. Earlier that year, desperate for more Union soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln instituted a draft–a draft that would allow the wealthy to escape serving in the army by paying a $300 waiver, more than a year’s income for the recent immigrant Irish. And on July 11, as the first drawing takes place in Lower Manhattan, the city of New York explodes in rage and fire. Stores are looted, buildings set on fire, and black Americans are attacked, beaten, and murdered. The police cannot hold out against the rioters, and finally, battle-hardened soldiers are ordered back from the fields of Gettysburg to put down the insurrection, which they do–brutally.

Fifteen-year-old Claire, the beloved daughter of a black father and Irish mother, finds herself torn between the two warring sides. Faced with the breakdown of the city–the home–she has loved, Claire must discover the strength and resilience to address the new world in which she finds herself, and to begin the hard journey of remaking herself and her identity.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction, Civil War, Teen, African American

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2009

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

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Post Civil War race riots (caused by unemployed southerners (b&w) immigrating to the north for nonexistent jobs). Written as a play with several actors narrating parts. Interesting and educational - I appreciated author's discussion at end.

My dad saw these riots in pre-WWII Washington, DC - same cause and same racial lines. It's not race it's survival...blaming race is bigotry, lack of jobs for survival is a continual source of frustration and anger - to this day. Outsourcing doesn't help, high wages causes high pricing causes outsourcing to cheaper workers.

Apologies to those who saw review before this was edited on...I reread it an thought first draft was incomplete, which it was.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook plays like a movie! The voice actors, music, sound effects, and background noises were all perfect. I give the production values 5 stars, but the actual story had problems. I love Walter Dean Myers and I see what he was aiming to do with our main character Claire... it just didn't work.

A lovely voice actor brought her to life but wow her character arc was weak. It started out strong and ultimately left me feeling underwhelmed. The hyperfocus on Claire simply wanting to be a human being and wishing that other people would basically be colorblind is rightfully naive for someone her age (15). What doesn't make sense here is how idealistic she is for her age and the time period. I find it VERY hard to believe that the Riots, which was brought to life beautifully and detailed in such a way that it didn't feel too much like a history lesson, are Claire's first ever encounter with racist folks. There is just no way. She behaves as if NYC had no racial tensions or class disparities before the Riots. This is in the Civil War and even if slavery wasn't a thing in NYC, racism never went anywhere. And even if racism had never personally affected her before, which again I find hard to believe for this time period, she maintains her naivete about race even after learning about the black orphanage raid and witnessing black people being attacked in the streets. Claire being white-passing wasn't a good way to explain away her ignorance about racism.

Claire's constant insistence to her father that she was not a child and that she had to go out into the world and find out who she is and what it means to be a black woman was so cheesy and heavy handed. Claire is sweet, but it was over the top. That could have been written better. The church scene was honestly how the whole book should have been written when it came to Claire approaching the lofty issues around her biracial identity. It was subtle and it was showing, not telling.

This combined with the fact that a 15 year old girl who is a little naive about the seriousness of what's going on with the riots and comes across as somewhat sheltered is just gonna... up and decide to explore the city alone to find her identity was too on the nose and kind of ridiculous. Again, Claire's motivations would've been much more powerful if her goal was to convince her Irish crush to not riot or to find her best-friend Priscilla who disappears after the wonderfully written historically accurate orphanage attack. Making her whole motivation "I'm gonna go into the dangerous streets alone to prove I'm a human being and not just a white passing black chick" was not good storytelling and not logical. I get that being a teen means you're gonna do stupid shit but if Claire was scared for her safety why would she willingly put herself in harms way like that?

Anyway - the timeline at the end and some of Myers' commentary in the author notes were educational. This is definitely an interesting chapter of history that was insightful to learn about.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the subject material of Riot and the way in which it portrays race relations, class relations and Civil War politics in a way that isn't black and white. I think that Riot would be a wonderful choice for a youth critical reading circle.

The good things said, however, I didn't particularly like Riot, or at the very least, I was incredibly disappointed since the subject matter has so much promise. I thought that the dialog was heavy-handed and not believable, especially the dialog from the teenage Claire. Furthermore, Claire's repeated dialog to the effect of "I don't want to be seen as black or white; I just want to be seen as a person" irritated me as oversimplified, with the problem that many supposedly multicultural works have in advocating for "colorblindness" rather than the infinitely more complex idea that there's no such thing as being colorblind, and that if there were, we would be blind to cultural richness and diversity of experience as well. The half Irish-American, half African-American Claire also seemed contrived to try to have a main character that wouldn't tip the reader too much in the favor one "side" (the predominantly working class Irish-American rioters versus the African Americans).

I also didn't think that the screenplay format helped convey the messages and story more effectively, considering that it seems as if Walter Dean Myers expected it to be read rather than acted (which I think would've actually made it more emotionally engaging).

P.S. I listened to the audiobook, so my feelings could've been swayed in either direction because of that. I liked some of the voice acting, but Claire's actress didn't convince me.

P.P.S. My opinion of Riot was improved by listening to the timelines of historical events as well as Walter Dean Myers's afterword and interview.

[Kammera · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be an excellent book for social studies and doing a cross curricular unit in school. Its a fast read, written in Dialogue form. The author adds the history behind the story at the end including pictures. I would read that part first before beginning to read the story. Riot is set in New York City in 1863 when the Civil war was taking place. A civil disturbance rocks the city as the Irish target the Blacks and the Army is trying to squash the unrest. Claire, is the young 15 year old trying to make sense of it all as she is half black,half white. This disturbance brings all the ugliness out of people and shows the reader how absurd and ridiculous the reasons people have for racism. The looters and rioters were just greedy looking for an excuse to steal and looking to blame others for their problems.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like Walter Dean Myers, but I liked nothing about this book. Written as a screenplay, it lacked the depth of exposition. As a screen play it was weak with camera directions and scene explanations that did not feel authentic. Dialog was horribly artificial. Very disappointing.

[Jessalyn Plant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book at my sister's recommendation. It was a brilliant production, much more like radio theatre. I appreciated learning about this historical event from the perspective of a young girl. The best part of the book though was the discussion part afterwards and the timeline demonstrating all of the facts of the events.

History has so much more depth to it than we give it credit for - especially when we look at it from only one perspective.

I would recommend this book in its audio format to anyone curious about the New York riots during the civil war or anyone looking for more information and understanding about the racial tension and history in that city and also the states as a whole.

[K2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

GoodRead

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Walter Dean Myers was the winner of the inaugural Michael L. Printz award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature for his inventive novel Monster, and his 2009 book Riot has resurrected some of the unusual elements found in that earlier release.

Riot is definitely not your average juvenile novel. The entire story is written in the format of a screenplay, complete with directions about the kind of shots the camera will be taking, annotations for the musical score, fade-ins/outs, and various other film direction. I think that Water Dean Myers is an outstanding writer who could also be a good movie director, if the right film came along.

Riot is a novel of historical fiction set during the New York City race riots of 1863. This portion of Civil War history is not generally too well known, but is a compelling and sobering chapter to the goings on between the Union and Confederate armies that helps shed more light on the myriad of smaller conflicts that were tangled up inside the war itself. Irish immigrants who had come to the United States after the Great Potato Famine were having a difficult time of it, living in poverty and fighting to gain even modest employment. When President Lincoln triggered the military draft in 1863, many of these Irish immigrants saw their own involvement in the war primarily as freeing the black slaves so that they could turn right around and take away the jobs of the Irish citizens. Furthermore, the poverty-stricken Irish were angry that the U.S. government was allowing wealthy people to buy their way out of their draft duties with a three hundred dollar exception payment, something that they themselves could never hope to afford.

Ultimately, it seems that the race riots depicted in this book were yet another cause for bloodshed in a damaged and divided young nation. All of the anger, sadness and fear of racism is vividly brought out in Riot through the multidimensional characters that Walter Dean Myers has so thoughtfully created. This is a good, solid book that will have readers pondering the way that they see themselves and others, and the standards by which they, themselves, would want to be measured.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the summer of 1863 in New York City. The Civil War is well underway, dividing not only the nation but its people. A federally instituted draft only incites the brewing conflict faster. Angry Irish immigrants flood the streets, looting stories and attacking blacks whom they blame for many of their problems. The army has been brought in to put the riots down, but violence still abounds. Caught in the midst of this, fifteen-year-old Claire is confronted with the difficulty of having both Irish and African American heritage. In a situation with very little middle ground, which side will Claire choose?

Riot is a novel with an interesting topic but a less than thrilling execution. This novel is written in the style of a screenplay, which is unique but a little odd considering I don’t believe it’s supposed to be one. Because of this strict format which only allows for scene descriptions, character actions, different “camera” angles, and dialogue, I found it very difficult to get into the story. Another negative side effect of this structure is that there is little if any direct characterization, and readers must glean what they can about characters based on mainly events, actions, and dialogue. I personally found it hard to fully understand many of the characters because I didn’t know that they were thinking, which the rare soliloquy did little to remedy. If it weren’t for this story, I think I might’ve been more into the story since the Civil War and race relations are fascinating and important parts of American history. For what it’s worth, the historical events discussed, particularly the New York City draft riots, were portrayed relatively accurately, but unfortunately, the story was just boring as a whole. Perhaps it’s only the screenplay style, but Riot was just not a book for me.

Fans of historical novels just as Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher and A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly may still enjoy this stylistically untraditional novel.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Grandma Bev for TeensReadToo.com

RIOT by Walter Dean Myers tells the story of the beginning of the Civil War, and the 1863 insurgency in New York City.

President Lincoln had started a draft to gain more soldiers for the Union Army, but there was a clause in the law that allowed the wealthy to pay a three-hundred dollar fee and hire someone else to go to war in their place. In New York City, tempers exploded into a vicious race riot.

Claire is the daughter of a mixed family. Her mother is Irish and her father is black. She has been secure in her identity, but now everything is different. Black Americans are being murdered and beaten, and even a foundling home is looted and burned as the uprising turns into one of the worst race riots in American history.

The streets and Claire's neighborhood are no longer safe. And then the soldiers that are called back from Gettysburg to settle the dispute are equally brutal.

Claire is considered all black by people she considered friends and they are turning against her for that reason. She begins to question her identity. Great characters and a fast-moving plot kept me glued to the pages.

Myers has written this story in the form of a screenplay in an untraditional book, with an unblinking look at racial relations during that time period. It gave an immediacy to the action that most novel forms would not have been able to achieve. It is a very entertaining story, and I painlessly learned a lesson in American history.

[Kelly Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walter Dean Myers makes an incredibly important contribution to literature for kids. He's always writing about topics that kids really want to know about in a sophisticated yet accessible way.

In this novel he uses a screenplay style like he did for Monster to write about the riots that took place in New York City during the Civil War. It's a part of American History that a lot of people don't know about, and Myers does an incredible job of bringing the experience to life in this book. He doesn't dumb anything down - the material is challenging, but he portrays the events so vividly that readers will want to understand it.

[Emily Rozmus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Myers takes what seems to be a fascinating piece of history and cuts it into a script, resulting in choppy, fragmented and unconsuming reading. What worked for contemporary reading like Monster is incredibly uneffective for this historical book. I want to know more about this time period, but will need to look elsewhere to find it. Junior high readers beware...your teachers are sure to force this upon you!!!!

[Donalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The screenplay format made this a difficult book to follow. Told mostly through dialogue, with little back story, it was difficult to find a sense of the story or connect to the characters. I appreciated the importance of sharing this story, though, which is little known.

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't read it! The stage directions distanced me from the story and became increasingly annoying. (Usually love this author.)

[Mahdi Sadrnezhaad · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting book about the racial problem in the US. Not bad to read once.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in 2009 by Listening Library.
Performed by multiple actors.
Duration: 2 hours, 36 minutes.
Unabridged.

July of 1863 was the height of the American Civil War. The month contained the Battle of Gettysburg, the end of the long siege of Vicksburg, and the battle at Battery Wagner where the 54th Massachusetts demonstrated that African American soldiers would be an effective and important addition to the Union Army.

It also featured one of the worst riots in American history - the New York City Draft Riot.

The riot was ostensibly a violent reaction to the imposition of a draft to fulfill state military quotas, but it was more than that and this short audiobook does a very good job of looking at those reasons.

The draft was unpopular for more than just the fact that the men who were drafted did not want to join the army. Rich people could afford to pay $300 to avoid military service if they were drafted. It took most workers more than 6 months or more to earn this sort of money. This encouraged that common refrain that happens in many wars - It was a rich man's war but a poor man's fight.

About 25% of New York City was made up of immigrants from Ireland. Those immigrants were at the bottom of the social and economic heap, but they were afraid that newly freed slaves would work their way to New York City and be willing to work for less, meaning that their wages would have to drop just to compete.

Those factors combined to make this riot an ugly mix of economic, racial and anti-governmental violence that lasted for 4 days until Union troops arrived fresh from the Battle of Gettysburg to help New York State Militia restore order with gunfire.

This audiobook reads like a television script, including directions for camera cuts and the like. The actors who read the audiobook read it like an old-fashioned radio play. A narrator read the direction for the cameras and introduced the characters as they came into the drama.

This drama explores the complicated reasons for the riots and gives the listener a surprisingly nuanced view of the riots. This is especially noteworthy considering that the drama is so short.

The last half hour or so of the audiobook is a podcast-type discussion of the drama and the riots between the author and a history professor. This was especially well-done.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2023...

[Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the topic of the Civil War, many people know about the war between the South and the North, at little else. The scope of the Civil War, both its feelings and underlying causes, are far greater than one may initially realize. The idea that the war was fought to end slavery may have been the goal at it’s end, but it certainly was not the initial goal. Initially, many people volunteered in order to preserve the Union of the United States, with many people believing that secession amounted to treason. Yet, the war, as it is with any conflict, cannot be generalized so. Although there are many people who believe that the North was a shining Utopia of freedom for former slaves, nothing could be farther from the truth. There were many different people who were just as racist as there brothers to the south, and often enacted policies and political views that perpetuated racist ideals well into the 20th century.
It is with this in mind that we come into the screenplay Riot by Walter Dean Myers. When I looked at this book on Goodreads, I was surprised to find that this book had a 3.2 rating average (For the record, about 4.0 is average for most books on Goodreads) ! This is because that Myers manages to do what all great historical fiction does: take the wider events of a historical time period and narrow it down to the microcosm of a family or individual. It is an excellently done book about how racist ideas can spread and cause violence, even in the midst of fighting for freedom. This book also can be used to explore the different ideas of supply and demand in economics, with the irish immigrants living in already squalor and poverty fighting for the few jobs available, worried about the freed African Americans coming to work for even lower wages. In short this book is an excellent example of that, and it shouldn't be discounted because of it.
I will say that I did listen to this as a stage play with a full cast, so I would recommend that that be how one reads this text. It was excellently done, and I think that is superior over a simple paperback form.
In any case, I would say that this book should not be missed, and is vastly underrated. I give it a five out of five!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I seem to be on a riot theme lately so I decided to read this. I have the audiobook and I'm curious as to the differences.

It was difficult for me to adjust to the script format. As I was gaining familiarity, though, I started thinking about how my struggles could be used to teach my students.

I felt the ugliness of the riots which is odd because the setting and actions were loose compared to the dialogue. Claire did get on my nerves more than a few times but I did admire Priscilla. I think my students will be shocked by the social norms of the time.

I'm considering teaching this book. I think it would need to be taught. It will definitely be put in the same book bin with along with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two.

[Elianna Grunden · Rating 2 out of 5]

A neat way to present a racial riot although I didn't particularly enjoy it because of how my mind already works. The audiobook is written and spoken with the "camera shots" (angles, perspectives, distances, etc.) along with the regular dialogue and acting. My mind would be putting the situation and the photo of the scenes when suddenly the narrator would say "medium frame on so-and-so... now closer shot." Or I'd be listening to the narrator when he'd suddenly focus on some random like "overhead view... we see a group of larger white ladies seeking fruit" but the screen just described had nothing to do with what happened next. Aside from the confusing and interrupting narration, the story was interesting, following a young girl who is half Irish and half African-American trying to find her true self and where she fits in the riot.

[Nefertari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook full-cast version of this novel. I don't recommend it. Usually, I enjoy full-cast productions of audiobooks, but this read like a screenplay. While that worked for some of Myers' novels, listening to the narrator constantly say "Cut to...Cut to...Cut to..." is grating after a while.

As for the story itself, it's a good examination of a riot that doesn't get much attention outside of "Gangs of New York." But the main character of Claire is annoying, and her dialogue is more than a little heavy-handed. Yes, you do need to find out who you are and understand how the world sees you. Doing that in the middle of a violent citywide riot is downright stupid, and a little out of character with Claire's sensible nature otherwise.

[Logan W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Riot is a book about a fifteen-year-old girl named Claire who is an Irish-African American. She lives in New York City in 1863 during the New York draft riots. The story revolves around Claire and her struggle to find her inner identity as she watches the two groups that make up her heritage fight against each other.

While being a quick read, it is written as a screenplay, which makes it difficult to read with stage directions and director’s notes scattered within the dialogue. These stage directions chop the dialogue and distance you from the story. The scenes also cut back and forth right before important parts of the story. This also adds to the chopped feeling of the dialogue. For those reasons, I do not recommend this book.

[Ryne · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Note: Spoilers ahead!]

I bought Riot because 1) it was at a castoff book sale in my local library, and 2) I had heard good things about Walter Dean Meyers. I had high expectations for the book, and while those expectations were not met, it was still a pretty good (and very quick!) read.

Written in the style of a film script, Riot chronicles the events and repercussions of the New York City draft riots in 1863. Most of the novel follows a young girl named Claire, the daughter of a black man and a white Irish woman, as she watches violence erupt between the two races that form her heritage. Though the civil disturbances in Riot begin as a form of protest against the newly instituted war draft and the exemptions made for the wealthy to get out of the draft, they quickly escalate into mass violence against black New Yorkers--the aggressive white laborers form street gangs and attack newspaper offices and businesses, fearing that emancipated slaves will come and take jobs away from them. As the violence in New York City grows and black people are attacked and killed, the government calls in the militia to put down the riots. Troubled by violence between people who once lived together in peace, Claire (who is light-skinned and appears white) sets out on her own (and again later with her friend) to come to grips with both this horrible event and with her own identity. The riot is eventually put down, but not before Claire's life--and the lives of her family and friends--are forever changed.

I thought that the film script approach to this book was an unique idea, but I didn't really like it that much; I felt that overall it limited some of the conventions that I typically expect in good writing. Because of the director's notes interspersed throughout the text--as well as descriptions of shifting camera angles--it was hard for me to get engaged while I was reading the novel; I felt like I was often being interrupted. The script format also limited the amount of detail that Meyers could give in the text (as overly long director's notes would seem out of place and distracting); there wasn't really much of a sense of place throughout the novel. Sometimes the "script" seemed to stretch outside of its boundaries towards regular novel conventions--such as when characters' interior thoughts or feelings are described--but these moments actually felt somewhat awkward or unbelievable because of the script's usual sparseness of detail. (Are real movie scripts this sparse in detail? I admit that I know little about the genre, which does limit my interpretation of the book.) I was sometimes just plain annoyed by all of the stage directions breaking up the flow of the script ("EXT: House," etc.).

In Riot, Meyers has done a good job of bringing readers like me knowledge of a little-known historical event, which I really appreciated--I had no idea that this riot that I had never heard of was the United States' largest civil insurrection apart from the Civil War itself. There was some good back matter after the novel with historical information, including some documents and photos, but I wish I could have known more about Meyer's process of writing the novel--that is, if any of the novel's characters were real, or if they were all fictionalized. In terms of his authorial crafting, Meyer chooses a good perspective to tell the story from--because Claire is half-black and half-white, she is able to see racial issues more keenly than many other characters could. That having been said, however, I did not always find the book's characters as very realistic: I was somewhat irked by how often they would suddenly shift from regular dialogue into deeply introspective, cultured/intellectual speeches in order to make statements about human nature and the like. Besides Walt Whitman (who makes a somewhat bizarre and quasi-obligatory appearance, seemingly just because he happens to be from that time period), Claire is the most guilty of this, and she sometimes resembles the stereotypical "tragic mulatto" in some of her vocal ponderings. ("Who am I? WHAT am I?" etc.) These sudden shifts to high-toned discourse make Claire's characterization unrealistic sometimes; such dialogue sounds far too thought-out and adult-like to be believable for a fifteen-year-old.

Overall, Riot was an okay read, though I doubt that "okay" is the word Meyers hopes reviewers will use to describe his book. I appreciated the novel because it brought parts of U.S. history to my attention that I'd had no idea took place, but I wish that Meyer had treated that historical material a bit differently. (This is not unlike my review of Charles and Emma, also on Goodreads--I wonder if I just have something against historical fiction in general. We'll see as I continue to read more of it.) If the novel had been longer, I might have felt more dissatisfied, but since it was such a quick read, I'm a pretty content customer, overall. I do hope, though, that Meyer's other novels will give me a higher opinion of him as a writer; I'll be reading Monster within a few weeks, and I hope I like it more than I liked this book.

Riot contains some violence (surprise!), but it's nothing that younger readers couldn't handle. I think that even Middle Grade readers might enjoy this book, though it will probably be more readily received by teens and adults (who will have the interest/desire or the patience to read something written entirely in movie-script format).

[Lori McMullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Walter Dean Myers, but I'm not sure I liked the formatting of this book. Myer's choice of the Civil War riots in New York City as a backdrop for his story, is gripping. Blacks, whites, Irish immigrants, Five Points gangs, and Union soldiers fill out the cast of characters. The book is written as a screenplay, including "stage" notes, leaving out the inner monologue we usually rely on to push a story along. The author's notes help to anchor the novel in history. This would be a good read for students looking for a challenge or a different reading genre.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been a good book. The topic was interesting, but it was written in a film script format and the stage directions etc. made it hard to follow, especially since I listened to this on audio. If I read this I may have been able to skim over all these stage directions, but listening to it reaulted in something being lost or taken away from the experience. Various narrators were used to voice the different characters, which was nice, but there seemed to be so many characters, it was also hard to follow who was who.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit torn on this as it was a very different approach to writing than I am used to for Walter Dean Myers. I am thankful I listened to it, as it is written as a script. It's focus is the New York Riots, which I was unfamiliar. Having the many multiple characters gives you a brief look into each person who was impacted during this moment of time. It's enough of a glimpse to feel the character, but not enough to bond with the character. I loved hearing the distinct voices for each character, but it did take a lot of focus to let my mind change from one scene to the next so quickly.

[Justine Reinosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riot tells the story of the New York Draft Riot that occurred in July of 1863. In this historical fiction novel written as a screenplay, Walter Dean Myers takes us on the incredible and terrible journey of the tragic riot that ended in hundreds of rioters dead. We see it mostly from Claire's point of view, a young girl who is half black, half white and the struggle of her family and friends as the riot takes its toll on New York City and its citizens, along with her own internal struggle to find who she is in the center of all this.

[Sue Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read based a four day period in NYC during the Civil War where poor Irish immigrants rioted when Lincoln instituted a draft that would impact them and not the "swells" who could buy their way out of the war. Irish immigrants and gangs broke into stores, looted, set fires, and randomly attacked and even killed Black residents, who they saw as cheap competition for jobs. The book was just okay - it told an important story and raised important issues but it didn't have much depth, largely because of the format.

[Karen Berlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young adult historical fiction novel depicting the New York City race riot that resulted from the imposed 1863 draft and associated social issues uniquely conveyed by protagonist Claire, daughter of a black father and Irish mother caught in the middle of the intense hostility of opposing sides. Detailed descriptions of, looting, brutality, violence and death along with the confusion and bewilderment of the main character trying to make sense of what is happening around her create meaningful discussion opportunities about race, class, privilege and human rights.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished listening to Riot by Walter Dean Myers. I chose to read this Young Adult (YA) novel as part of a graduate class with the only restriction being a book by WD Myers. At first, three different books by him peaked my interests, Sunrise over Fallujah, Fallen Angels and Riot. They are all books about the experience of African-Americans within the constructs of the US military. I chose Riot because it is about a little known event in NYC during the Civil War. Also, I’m a Civil War buff too.

First, the audio version was much better than reading the novel. WD Myers chooses to write the story in the form of a screenplay. As a result the connective narrative between exchanges of dialog, tends to be too much detail and caused me to disengage from the story. During the interview at the end of the audio-book he does explain that this was intentional since he wanted to show the visual changes of the city. Since the audio-book offers a full voiced cast for all characters, including the narrator, the story is much easier to follow and visualize. In addition to the story three extras are given, a Voiced timeline of events leading up to the Draft Riots, WD Myers reads his author’s notes, and an interview with WD Myers that is about twenty minutes. The interview is worth listening to but the timeline and author’s notes add very little.

The story is well written and rich in the issues of the draft riots. The actions of the story take place during the middle of the draft riots after the Union Army arrives to put down the riot itself. Claire the main protagonist, has an Irish mother and a Black father who own the Peacock, a pub near the Five Points. By creating a main character that is both Black and Irish, we see the quandary of the riots themselves. It was not completely racial but more socioeconomic. For most of the story, Claire is slightly flat and one dimensional but gains some depth and development after the witnessing the mugging/attacks that happen near her home. If the story were written in conventional form or epistolaries, Claire would make for a good choice as narrator and may actually make her stronger.

The general absence of Claire’s father during the beginning of the book is slightly odd considering he plays a large role in Claire’s choice during the middle of the story. He is look to as patriarch but the neighborhood boys. I understand that the fact he is at work, and his presence will be limited because of his charcters’s duties in other places. His entering and leaving of the narrative is still disjointed. Upon reflection it is even more of an oddity considering he is the only adult african-american character in the main cast. Claire’s mother is with her through the first half of the book while they are slightly barracaded in the pub. She plays the typical mother and is both the voice of the American Irish and the hopeful immigrant. She does offer the only real adult reflection within the cast but these are shaded as both immigrant fear and motherly.

Some of the more intimate scenes at times appeared randomly and forced into the narrative instead of being a part of the over all movement of action. Claire and Lancaster, he is a Wisconsin volunteer in the Union army, first meet and she drafts a letter to his family. The scene is at best innocent and reflective of the soldier’s life. At worst, it is transparently necessary to build tension during his death scene later in the story. Percy, Claire’s african-american friend, search for Precy’s aunt in a hospital near the fighting. The result is a short scene of familial death, but actually is used as an transitional excuse to place the girls in the street with Maeve, when the fighting breaks out. Maeve, the female Irish atagonist, is a flat character as well. The short length of the novel only reveals her distaste for the draft and basic hatred of “darkies” as a result of not getting a job in Claire’s family pub, this is how she is introduced at the beginning of the novel. Also the random interjection of Walt Whitman into the cast on the first day of the riots is odd and unnecessary. He comes into the pub to protect himself and his young black ward. Instead of elevating the story, Myers makes it seem as though the common man does not understand the broader scope of the war and the inevitable changes it will bring. This could have been accomplished by using a similar character without using Uncle Walt.

The end result is that students learn some of the constructs of the actual riot, but due to the structure of the writing, many may find the narrative difficult to follow and not rewarding. Given the struggle and violence that Claire is exposed to, she gains little and has some reflective thought on being a minority in a post slavery America. She has a wonderful line after the end of the second day of the novel, third day of the riots, “If only I could remove my skin and place it in a drawer until I can be see for more than what I am.” Walter Dean Myers is echoing some of Paul L Dunbar and Langston Hughes poetry on the Black Experience in NYC. However, this is lost in conclusion of the story and is wiped over by narrative ramblings of the characters who survived the violence.

Overall, worth listening to in class but don’t read it. Would be a great daily activity during a middle school Civil War unit. Twenty-five minutes a day and your done six days.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter is reading this for school so I read it, too. It packs a lot of information into a short book. I have not read much about the NYC Riots so this was specifically interesting to me. It's written in a play format which wasn't my favorite but it does touch on a lot of important features of the time: Racism, bias towards Irish, efforts to protect the children in the city, etc. Good middle grade read.