Monster

Monster, 978-0-06-440731-1, Walter Dean Meyers, Christopher Myers, 1999, National Book Award Finalist, Coretta Scott King Award, Michael L. Printz, 13-18years, African-American.

Steve Harmon in Monster, who was directly involved in the pre-meditated robbery of a drug store, faces trial with his neighborhood acquaintances for the murder of Mr. Nesbit. Walter Dean Myers tells the story through Steve’s own writing. Mrs. O’Brien, Steve’s lawyer, fights to show the jury that Steve is innocent. Sometimes he wonders if his defense lawyer thinks that he’s guilty or innocent. Steve is finally acquited.

Monster is an emotionally-charged story that is both compelling and disturbing. I would recommend this book to young people with the hope that they would learn from Steve's experiences. The story describes what it is like to be in court at a young age. It also describes the loneliness of life in prison.

This book is written like a movie with some breaks for Steve's journal entries. The movie is written as dialogue, with the characters' names in typewritten boldface followed by their remarks in regular type. The journal entries provide flashbacks to around the time of the murder and also the conflict going on in Steve’s head. These handwritten notes tell of his terror in prison and convey his thoughts about events.

In addition to the format, character development in Monster is also effective. Throughout the story readers learn that Steve loves creating films and understand that he feels connected to his neighborhood. In contrast the prison setting is realistically frightening.

The author uses highly realistic writing. Both poor and proper grammar is used appropriately for each character. The photographs add to the realistic atmosphere. The movie script depicts creativity and the courtroom realism portrays contemporary culture.

This book would make an ecellent read for students struggling with issues of victimization either because of race, color, sex, religion or age. It is also adequte for use with students from poor families or students who live in neighborhoods so full of crime. Students woud be asked to write down instances when they might have felt the same way as Steve. I would use the book with students in creative writing. They would have to write their own movie script.