Monster

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Myers, Walter Dean. 1999. MONSTER. illus. by Christopher Myers. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 9780064407311.

PLOT SUMMARY
Sixteen year old Steve Harmon is on trial for the murder of a convenience store owner. He is accused of being the lookout for a robbery gone wrong and is in jail awaiting the outcome of the trial. The prosecuting attorney calls him a Monster. Steve wants to be a film maker and copes with his incarceration by making the trial and the events that led up to it a documentary in his mind. The story is written like a movie script. The reader is able to read the transcript of the trial and then witness the flashbacks as Steve plays back the events in his mind to determine how things could have gone so horribly wrong. The reader is left to determine if the sentence Steve receives is just.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book was written in such a unique way. Author Walter Dean Myers grabs the reader at the beginning when Steve is thinking with gray and handwritten pages. This visual method makes the transition between the jail, courtroom and flashbacks to the event easy to understand. Myers then "rolls the credits" before beginning the story. The lead actor, producer and director are all Steve Harmon. The way it was written on the page reminded me of the Star Wars beginning and that would appeal to young readers too. The trial begins to unfold and Myers uses transcripts which makes it more interesting. Young adult readers like books that are edgy. The topic, a sixteen year old on trial for murder, and the style of the book's presentation both manage to do that.

Students always have thoughts they don't share with others. Steve voices his fears of prison in his head, the fear of disappointing his parents, the fear of his life ending. These are all realistic life stories that some readers could relate to. Young adults like to read about people their age, in real life situations. Myers story paints a realistic picture of life in jail and how youth can be treated in a trial. A powerful statement Steve thinks is to warn a friend about how he lives his life. The phrase he repeats is, "Think about all the tomorrows of your life". Many teens feel that nothing will happen to them; they are untouchable. They live for the moment and don't project how the actions of their youth can affect the rest of their life. Jail is a jarring reality and Steve wants to warn his friends to think twice before they do something stupid. This is a good message for the reader.

A number of students have dreams of making movies. Steve's method of shooting this as a documentary enables him to cope with being locked up. He doesn't want to allow himself to act like the other prisoners because he doesn't see himself as a criminal. Myers writing this as a movie allows him to use fewer words as he moves between scenes and it is effective.

Illustrator Christopher Myers is the son of the author. He has collaborated with his father before on previous books. The black and white photographs are grainy and simple. C. Myers portrays the characters as criminals would be - not carefully staged photographs but a quick shot. The type in the book is like that from an old crime book done on a typewriter.

Myers never really defines the absolute truth of the crime. He gives everyone's point of view and leaves it up to the reader to decide what really happened. That's real world. Things aren't always black and white and clearly defined. Myers ends the book with a question to cause the reader to reflect on the story and answer it by themselves. This book would be great for an open discussion in an English class.

PERSONAL OPINION
I really liked this book. Part of the appeal was the way in which the book was presented. I liked that Myers lets the reader decide the truth. It's the kind of book you want someone else to read so you can discuss it with them.

AWARDS
Michael L. Printz Award
Corretta Scott King Honor Book
National Book Award Finalist
Boston Globe - Horn Book Award Honor Book
Publisher's Weekly Best Book
Book Sense 76 Pick
ALA Best Book for Young Adults

REVIEW EXCERPTS
From School Library Journal
"Grade 7 Up-Steve Harmon, 16, is accused of serving as a lookout for a robbery of a Harlem drugstore. The owner was shot and killed, and now Steve is in prison awaiting trial for murder. From there, he tells about his case and his incarceration. Many elements of this story are familiar, but Myers keeps it fresh and alive by telling it from an unusual perspective. Steve, an amateur filmmaker, recounts his experiences in the form of a movie screenplay. His striking scene-by-scene narrative of how his life has dramatically changed is riveting. Interspersed within the script are diary entries in which the teen vividly describes the nightmarish conditions of his confinement. Myers expertly presents the many facets of his protagonist's character and readers will find themselves feeling both sympathy and repugnance for him. Steve searches deep within his soul to prove to himself that he is not the "monster" the prosecutor presented him as to the jury. Ultimately, he reconnects with his humanity and regains a moral awareness that he had lost. Christopher Myers's superfluous black-and-white drawings are less successful. Their grainy, unfocused look complements the cinematic quality of the text, but they do little to enhance the story. Monster will challenge readers with difficult questions, to which there are no definitive answers."

From Booklist
"Myers combines an innovative format, complex moral issues, and an intriguingly sympathetic but flawed protagonist in this cautionary tale of a 16-year-old on trial for felony murder. Steve Harmon is accused of acting as lookout for a robbery that left a victim dead; if convicted, Steve could serve 25 years to life. Although it is clear that Steve did participate in the robbery, his level of involvement is questionable, leaving protagonist and reader to grapple with the question of his guilt. An amateur filmmaker, Steve tells his story in a combination of film script and journal. The "handwritten" font of the journal entries effectively uses boldface and different sizes of type to emphasize particular passages. The film script contains minimal jargon, explaining camera angles (CU, POV, etc.) when each term first appears. Myers' son Christopher provides the black-and-white photos, often cropped and digitally altered, that complement the text. Script and journal together create a fascinating portrait of a terrified young man wrestling with his conscience. The tense drama of the courtroom scenes will enthrall readers, but it is the thorny moral questions raised in Steve's journal that will endure in readers' memories."

CONNECTIONS
Divide the class into characters - Steve Harmon, James King, Bobo Evans, Osvaldo Cruz and have them defend themselves as a group with oral arguments to the rest of the class.

For a writing assignment, ask students to write what they think Steve should have done when asked to be the lookout.

Have students answer in writing the last question posed in the book, "What did she see?" (There is no right or wrong answer as long as it is thought out).

Students who liked this book might like:

Anderson, Halse. SPEAK ISBN 9780141310886

Cormier, Robert. THE CHOCOLATE WAR. ISBN 9780375829871

Draper, Sharon M. TEARS OF A TIGER. ISBN 9780689806988

Johnson, Angela. THE FIRST PART LAST. ISBN 9780689849237