These fifty-four poems, all in different voices but written by one hand, do sing. They make a joyful noise as the author honors the people-the nurses, students, soldiers, and ministers-of his beloved hometown, Harlem. Worship with Deacon Allen, who loves a shouting church, and study with Lois Smith, who wants a school named after me. Dont get taken by Sweet Sam DuPree, who conned a shark right outta his fin. And never turn your back on Delia Pierce, who claims she aint the kind to talk behind nobodys back while doing precisely that-with panache. Inspired by Edgar Lee Masterss classic Spoon River Anthology, Walter Dean Myers celebrates the voices and aspirations of the residents of another American town, one that lies between two rivers on the north side of an island called Manhattan.