Product 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.A shopkeeper is killed during an armed robbery in New York. Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is arrested. The prosecutor is pushing for the death penalty.The only way Steve can cope with the terrifying ordeal of the trial is to tell his story like a film script, with flashbacks to events leading to the robbery. His diary records the grim brutality of nights spent in a jail cell, and his growing confusion about his own identity.Who is the real Steve Harmon: is he guilty or is he innocent?Monsteris a gripping story of crime, truth and responsibility, by one of America's best writers for young people.Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1232090 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 281 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
"Monster" is what the prosecutor called 16-year-old Steve Harmon for his supposed role in the fatal shooting of a convenience store owner. But was Steve really the lookout who gave the "all-clear" to the murderer, or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? In this innovative novel by Walter Dean Myers, the reader becomes both juror and witness during the trial of Steve's life. To calm his nerves as he sits in the courtroom, aspiring filmmaker Steve chronicles the proceedings in movie script form. Interspersed throughout his screenplay are journal writings that give insight to Steve's life before the murder and his feelings about being held in prison during the trial. "They take away your shoelaces and your belt so you can't kill yourself no matter how bad it is. I guess making you live is part of the punishment."

Myers, known for the inner-city classic Motown and Didi, proves with Monster that he has kept up with both the struggles and the lingo of today's teens. Steve is an adolescent caught up in the violent circumstances of an adult world--a situation most teens can relate to on some level. Even reluctant readers will no doubt be attracted to the novel's handwriting-styled type-face, emphasis on dialogue, and fast-paced courtroom action. By weaving together Steve's journal entries and his script, Myers has given the first person voice a new twist and added yet another worthy volume to his already admirable body of work. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert, Amazon.com

Excerpted from Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Sometimes I feel like I've walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film would be the story of my life. No, not of my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me ... Monster.

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
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

Reviewed by: Mechele R. Dillard

Guilty? OR Innocent?
A 16-years-old black boy called steve harmon is on trail for felony murder.The story is set in the 1990's in a courtroom in New York.Steve is accussed for beeing the lookout in a drugstore robbery where the owner was killed and something was stolen.It does not become clear how far steve was involved in the robbery and if he really only played the role of a "lookout".The whole story is written as a script from steve's point of view.To get more information about steve's feelings.

I found the book very well,because the book was written realistically and the topic is also up-to-day.Force is everyday life for the young people.I think Walter Dean Myers want show the reader the force of young people,more exactly of black people.

written by volkan

Who Am I ?
The book "Monster" written by Walter Dean Myers is about a 16 - year old black boy. This boy is called Steve Harmon and he is on trial for felony murder. Steve was at the wrong time at the wrong place. He is part of a robbery in a drugstore. But: did he really wanna take part? We don't learn if Steve is guilty or not. We have to think about it. Steve isn't sure about his identity, therefor he shows his trial in two parts: diary and filmscript. When he writes his diary he shows feelings but when he writes the filmscript he is objective.
In the beginning it is hard to read because of the filmscript and the diary entries but then it is pretty easy. During the whole story we learn a lot about the American court system. It is a good experience to read this book.