Monster

Bibliographic Info

Title: Monster

Author: Walter Dean Myers

Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers

Publication Date: 1999

ISBN: 978-0064407311

Plot Summary

16-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder.  If he’s found guilty he faces life in prison or the death penalty.  The trial seems like a parade of one criminal after another and Steve feels like he’s losing his sense of himself, wondering if he’s just like them.  As if the fear of the trial’s outcome wasn’t enough.  As each day comes to a close, Steve has to face the terror of the jail cells, where inmates are always fighting.  One man was even raped in Steve’s cell.  And then there’s Steve’s parents.  His father doesn’t seem to know what to make of the situation, as if he thought he knew his son, and suddenly, his boy is a stranger.  His mother’s pain is almost unbearable.

In order to keep from losing it, Steve writes the story of his trial down, as if it were a movie, happening to someone else.  Through the lens of a screenplay, Steve makes sense of his situation and finds a bit of safety in its pages.

Critical Evaluation

Monster is an excellent depiction of the quirks and flaws of the justice system, viewed from the inside from the eyes of a black teenager.  In the story, the jury has decided Steve is guilty even before the trial begins.  The book places a face behind a stereotypical story of a couple of black kids in a convenience store stick-up gone wrong.  This book demonstrates beautifully the power of fiction to transform prejudice into understanding and compassion.  By the end of the story, readers know Steve intimately.  They know that he’s not just another sad statistic.  He’s human.  And so the other real-life sad statistics may be as well.

Reader’s Annotation

In the beginning of his trial for murder, the prosecuting attorney calls Steve Harmon a monster.  Is he?  He struggles with questions about who he is while surrounded by violence, and on trial for his life.

Author Info

Walter Dean Myers was born August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia.  He was sent to Harlem to be raised by a man named Herbert Dean, and his wife Florence.  Myers dropped out of high school at age 17 and joined the army.

One of Myers’ high school teachers recognized Myers skill in writing and encouraged him to keep at it, no matter what.  As an adult Myers recalled this advice and began writing about his teen years, which he claims were the most difficult of his life.

Myers, W. D. (n.d.). Walter Dean Myers Author. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/bio.html.

Genre

Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Ties

Social Studies, especially Civics

Sociology

Book Talking Ideas

Have you ever done anything morally questionable, then looked around you to find out if it really was that bad?

Imagine that you woke up in jail.  Your days were spent listening to people accuse you of something terrible.  Your nights were spent listening to fighting and worse.

Reading Level

13+

Challenge Issues

Main characters aren’t upstanding citizens

Challenge Responses

Active Listening

Refer to library’s collection policy

Provide complaint form

Refer to book reviews

Selection

Won ALA’s Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Literature for Young Adults.