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Search - Monster
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Monster Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Hardcover, Audio Cassette (Unabridged)
Book Description:
Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. MONSTER.
FADE IN: INTERIOR COURT. A guard sits at a desk behind Steve. Kathy O'Brien, Steve's lawyer, is all business as she talks to Steve.
O'BRIEN
Let me make sure you understand what's going on. Both you and this king character are on trial for felony murder. Felony Murder is as serious as it gets. . . . When you're in court, you sit there and pay attetion. You let the jury know that you think the case is a serious as they do. . . .
STEVE
You think we're going to win ?
O'BRIEN (seriously)
It probably depends on what you mean by "win."
Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout.
Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of "the system," cluttered with cynical authority figures and unscrupulous inmates, who will turn in anyone to shorten their own sentences. For the first time, Steve is forced to think about who he is as he faces prison, where he may spend all the tomorrows of his life.
As a way of coping with the horrific events that entangle him, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, decides to transcribe his trial into a script, just like in the movies. He writes it all down, scene by scene, the story of how his whole life was turned around in an instant. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred and his vision obscured until he can no longer tell who he is or what is the truth. This compelling novel is Walter Dean Myers's writing at its best.
2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2000 Michael L. Printz Award, 1999 National Book Award Finalist, 01 Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Lit Finalist, 00-01 Tayshas High School Reading List, and 00-01 Black-Eyed Susan Award Masterlist
2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), Hornbook Fanfare 2000, Michael L. Printz Award 2000, 2000 Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor Book, 2000 Quick Picks for Young Adults (Recomm. Books for Reluctant Young Readers), and 2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
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Genres:
- Children's Books >> People & Places >> Multicultural Stories >> African-American
- Children's Books >> People & Places >> Social Issues >> Prejudice & Racism >> Fiction
- Children's Books >> People & Places >> Social Issues >> Violence >> Fiction
- Teens >> Social Issues >> Violence
- Teens >> Literature & Fiction >> General
- Teens >> Authors, A-Z >> ( M ) >> Myers, Walter Dean
Top Member Book Reviews
Shelby B. (
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book was touching, I cried and I laughed, and I was angry at times with the prosecutors. It seems as if you are there, watching it. I loved the format, as the boy writes the movie. A great piece of literature, if I do say so myself!
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
As a student of playwriting with a degree in broadcast media, I could really appreciate the style of this book. The author writes the entire book in script form - including camera angles, direction, scene set-up, etc. The one thing he does leave to your imagination is the answer to the real question of guilt or innocence. There is no wrapped up happy ending; no resolution to the hard questions. You draw your own conclusions..and then question them for the entire story. This is a unique story that could happen to you your son on any given day in any given city. I read it in one sitting. A fascinating read.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
My students enjoy this book. I teach low-level readers at the high school level. This is definitely a high-interest books and I have students coming in from other classes asking to borrow this book because their friend has recommended it to them.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I loved this book. It's an amazing story. I then suggested it to a friend of mine who is not a good reader. It's a different format and I just love the screen play format. It was attention keeping and exhilarating.
CINDY M. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I like the way the writing alternates from movie script style to more of a journal or diary style. It really gives insight into the mind of a 16-year-old who in on trial for murder. It's one of those books that is hard to put down. As a mom, I felt horrified by his behavior, yet also felt sorry for him.
Jennifer W. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Reviewed by Mechele R. Dillard for TeensReadToo.com
Sixteen-year-old Steve is on trial for murder. But he's having trouble understanding why. "What did I do? I walked into a drugstore to look for some mints, and then I walked out. What was wrong with that? I didn't kill Mr. Nesbitt"(p. 140). Nothing is wrong with that, of course--unless the purpose of that casual trip was to give the "all clear" for a robbery that ended in the murder of the store's owner. Then, something is very wrong.
By structuring the book as a movie script being written by the character as he spends his days in prison, faces his jury, prepares with his lawyer, confronts his mother and father, and, most importantly, examines his own life, Myers presents Steve as a talented young man who may have made a single poor choice. However, Myers retains conflict necessary for building a compelling storyline by having Steve refuse to acknowledge his part in Mr. Nesbitt's death. The result is that the reader wants to sympathize with the teen, but cannot help but wonder, if Steve truly does not understand why what he did was wrong, what is going to keep him from going astray in the future? Maybe, as the prosecutor stated, Steve really is a monster.
Overall, MONSTER sends an excellent message to young adults: You, and only you, are responsible for the choices you make, and the consequences for those choices may ultimately affect not only the rest of your life, but the lives of the people around you--and maybe those you do not even know. Therefore, think about what you are doing, consider the consequences of your actions, and choose wisely.
Boston Globe--Horn Book Awards, Honor Book,1999
Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Young Adult Fiction, Finalist 1999
Coretta Scott King Awards, Honor Book, 2000
Edgar Allan Poe Awards, Nominee, Best Young Adult Novel, 2000
Michael L. Printz Award, Winner, 2000
Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Grades 9-12, Winner, 2002
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Steve Harmon's black, he's in jail, maybe forever. He's on trial for murder. And he's 16 years old.
A riveting courtroom drama.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Teens- 16 year old on trial for murder
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A courtroom drama written as a screenplay about a 16-year-old who is on trial for murder.
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