Reread the following passage: “I didn’t want to be defiant. I wanted to be in the system that I was walking away from, but I didn’t know how to get in” (132). What makes Myers a “bad boy”? In what ways is his “badness” a reflection of the society he grows up in?

How does Myers form his views on race as a boy? How do these views change over time?

What attracts Myers to reading and writing? How does each impact the way he views himself?