Monster

 Myers, W. D. (1999).  Monster.  NY: Harper.

 

Monster is the frightening story of a teenage boy named Steve Harmon that is arrested for the murder of a convenience store clerk. As he sits in jail awaiting the completion of his trial, he begins journaling his thoughts, feelings and experiences.  He also begins to write a screenplay of the events that take place during the trial.  As the trial proceeds, we can see that in the neighborhood where Steve lives, he is surrounded by young criminals that feel little remorse for their actions.  Steve is in the wrong place at the wrong time and is used as a lookout for the crime that the other young boys were about to commit. As the story proceeds we are led to believe that Steve actually had no part in the events that took place, which his lawyer tries to point out and prove during his trial. While reading this story, I was saddened by the thought that even though this is fiction, a story similar to this could actually be happening in our world right now. This was very interesting to read because of the unique style in which it was written. It is part journal and part screenplay. Even though we think of figurative language, word choice, or sentence patterns when thinking of style, I believe this book has it's own special style because of its unique format.

 

This book would be good for grades 8-12.

 

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