Module 5 - Monster

Bibliographic Information

Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Summary

This is the story of Steven Harmon, a 16 year old who is on trial for murder.  He is a good kid with promising qualities of being a film producer, but hangs around the wrong people in the neighborhood.  He enters a convenience store to purchase something.  As he is exiting, he nods at some “friends” standing on the street corner.  They then entered the convenience store, committed a robbery, and ended up killing the store clerk.  They claim that he gave them a signal that the coast was clear.  He claims his innocence, but still has to go through living in jail until the trial is over.  His family is supportive, but is hurting because of the situation.  The book is written in an unusual format of conversations between the characters, as a future movie production.  It contains graphic descriptions of life in jail, as well as the feelings and fears that Steve has for the time being, as well as his future.

Impressions

This book was interesting to me, but was difficult to read at first.  I wanted to finish it to find out if he was found guilty or not, so I continued through the odd format and finished the book.  The graphic descriptions are disturbing, but if you imagine yourself in Steve’s position, you feel his fear.  I think this is a good read for high school students who might be heading in the wrong direction with others of bad influence.

Reviews

In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action. Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence. The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a “positive moral decision” was not made. (illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 12-14)

(1999, May 1). [Review of Monster]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/adult/walter-dean-myers/monster-4/?spdy=1999

Library Use

Librarians could use this book for students in a book group facing similar issues of environment and life in general.  Students may feel that there is no escape from the environment they are in.  Reading about Steve’s experiences might bring to their attention that they should make good choices right now.  Any decision you make today can definitely have an effect on your future.

Book Trailer by Diana Pemberton