41. Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

ISBN: 978-0-06-440731-1

HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1999

281 p.

Plot Summary

On trial for felony murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is fighting for his life, fearing that a guilty plea will leave him locked up in jail for at least another twenty years.  Steve stands accused for being the lookout in a drugstore robbery that resulted in the death of the owner.  Unable to handle the constant fear he feels in prison, he decides to write everything down as a movie script, allowing him to distance himself from the realities of prison life and the judgment he faces in the courtroom.  Thinking back to the label the prosecutor gives him, Steve calls the movie, “Monster.”  And looking around the courtroom at the jurors and even his own father, Steve sees that word reflected back at him through their eyes, especially when they shift their eyes away from his.  He believes in the law of “innocent until proven guilty,” but the prejudice that some people have toward a young black man on trial for murder supersedes that law.  All that Steve knows is that he is a good person, but his association with people such as James King and Osvaldo Cruz suggests otherwise.  Insisting that he had no part in the robbery, it is up to the jury to decide if Steve is guilty or innocent.

Critical Evaluation

Written in mostly screenplay format, with a few notes and diary entries included throughout, Monster tells a compelling story of a young man on trial for a murder that he insists he had no part in.  The use of the screenplay in telling the events within the courtroom serves to distance Steve Harmon from the person on trial.  While his diary entries are written in first person, the screenplay is written in third person, reflecting Steve’s inability or unwillingness to see himself as the suspected criminal that the prosecutor views as a “monster.”  Believing himself to be a good person, Steve strives to keep himself sane and prevent himself from turning into the violent criminals with which he shares a jail cell.  As readers, we go into the novel with an assumption about Steve Harmon’s part in the murder.  Because of the connection I felt with the narrator, I naturally wanted to believe that Steve was innocent of the crime.  As Steve continues to tell his story and more information becomes available, I would go back and forth on my position, though always wanting to believe in his innocence.  However, there were a few times when his word is called into question.  For instance, after working with his lawyer on his testimony, Steve writes, “What was I doing?” and “What was I thinking?” on the screenplay, accompanied by two photos of a young black man walking through an aisle of a drugstore taken from a security camera (on p. 220-221.  Then, when Steve is under oath, he says that he was not in the drugstore that day.  After just seeing these two pages, I immediately questioned his statement and wondered if he actually was a part of the robbery plan.  However, the testimony of a woman that was in the store suggests that Steve was telling the truth.  Information such as this led me to constantly rethink my opinion on Steve’s innocence, making it a very fascinating book that is unlike any I had read before.

Reader's Annotation

Suspected of taking part in a robbery turned fatal, Steve Harmon is only sixteen years old and locked up in jail, facing a sentence of 25 years to life if found guilty.

Information About the Author

Walter Dean Myers was born August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia.  Although his birth name was Walter Milton Myers, he was given away to a man named Herbert Dean and his wife, Florence, in Harlem.  As a child, he spent most of his time around the neighborhood and at the church.  He did not do well in school and ended up dropping out, joining the army at the age of 17.

He credits a high school teacher with recognizing his skill at writing and encouraging him to continue writing no matter what, especially because she knew that he was dropping out.  Although he dismissed her advice at first, years later, he remembered her words when working on a construction job in New York.  He started to write at night after work and it led him to write about the teen years, the time period that he identifies as “the most difficult period of my own life.”  Myers has written many novels, including Crystal, Autobiography of My Dead Brother, Street Love, and Monster, as well as a memoir about his youth, Bad Boy.  (information from author’s website: http://www.walterdeanmyers.net)

Genre

Young Adult – Drama/Crime

Curriculum Ties

English - Reading Comprehension and Literary Response and Analysis

Booktalking Ideas

1. Focus on Steve’s constant fear while being in jail.

2. Discuss the prejudice that Steve’s lawyer talks to him about being young, black, and on trial.

3. Tell about Steve’s relationship with his father, mother, and brother.

4. Identify the reasons that Steve would turn to writing a screenplay about his time in court rather than continuing to write diary entries.

Reading Level/Interest Age

12+

Challenge Issues

Monster contains some potential challenge issues, such as adult language and descriptions of violence.

When confronted with complaints about this novel, librarians should become familiar with the material and its content.  Turn to reviews from publications such as Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, and Booklist, as well as reviews from teens that have read it.  Also, it is beneficial for librarians to present reasons backed by the ALA in support of intellectual freedom.  As stated in the Library Bill of Rights:

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

Why Include Book in Selection? 

In watching a YouTube video of a talk that Laurie Halse Anderson held, I learned about the high reverence she holds for Walter Dean Myers and I wanted to find out where that comes from by reading one of his novels.