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| Monster by Walter Dean Myers |
Sixteen-year old Steve Harmon is on trial as an accomplice to felony murder in Walter Dean Myer’s novel, Monster. Steve is an aspiring film maker and generally good kid trying to stay out of trouble on the streets of Harlem. After a drug store owner is killed in a robbery gone wrong, Steve is accused of being the lookout. The trial is told from Steve’s viewpoint and is written in the form of a screenplay with occasional journal entries.
As the story unfolds, we learn how the robbery took place, how scary life in prison can be for a young man, and the extremes convicted inmates will go to in order to reduce their sentences or attain a plea bargain. It is unclear whether Steve was actually involved in the robbery or just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as his attorney claims. At the end of the novel, we see Steve’s innocence has been stolen and he is struggling with how to deal with the fact that no one, not even his own family views him the same any longer. He is struggling with whether or not he truly is a Monster, just as the prosecutor accused, and if that is all other people see when they look at him.
Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York, N.Y: HarperCollins Publishers.
My impression:
This book had a dark tone throughout, which was fitting for a novel portraying the life of a sixteen-year old facing felony murder charges. The screenplay format was difficult for me to read at first, but the story line and my curiosity over whether Steve was involved or not helped me to press through until I eventually became accustomed to the format. Myers describes life in prison in a way that convinced me it was somewhere I would never want to be. I think this book would be a perfect choice for students who have a bright future ahead of them and a lot of potential but are not choosing their friends wisely or are beginning to head in the wrong direction.
Professional Reviews:
Arrested and charged with murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is writing a screenplay of his ordeal. Interspersed with his handwritten journal entries, Steve's script makes up a novel that in both form and subject guarantees a wide teen audience. Balancing courtroom drama and a sordid jailhouse setting with flashbacks to the robbery that resulted in a shopkeeper's murder, Myers adeptly allows each character to speak for him or herself, leaving readers to judge for themselves the truthfulness of the defendants, witnesses, lawyers, and, most compellingly, Steve himself. Did Steve serve as a lookout for the robbery? Was he in the store at all? Through all the finessing and obfuscation of the trial process, readers will find plenty of evidence for a variety of conflicting opinions. Even the cri de coeur in Steve's journal leaves plenty of room for interpretation: "I didn't do nothing! I didn't do nothing!" Tailor-made for readers' theater, this book is a natural to get teens reading — and talking.
Sutton, R. (1999, May/June). [Review of the book Monster, by W.D. Myers and C. Myers].
Horn Book Magazine 75(3), 337. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com
Library Uses:
Before reading Monster, students could complete a librarian created webquest to build background knowledge on Harlem, statistics on robbery/murders, information about prisons, and the laws in your state regarding minors being tried as adults. At the end of the webquest students could submit a blog entry discussing their thoughts on how they would handle being accused of being an accomplice to a robbery turned murder.
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