Monster Synopsis and Critique

Monster. ISBN 0-06-440731-4. Walter Dean Myers. 1999. Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award, Michael L. Printz Award. Age 13-17. Contemporary Realistic Fiction. African-American young males. Lower socio-economic status.

Synopsis
Sixteen year-old Steve Harmon is in jail and on trial for murder.  As the trial begins he decides to chronicle his experience in the form of a screenplay.  He alternates between journal and script writing, interjecting the courtroom scenes with flashbacks that lead up to his time in jail.  In the end his is acquitted, however whether or not Steve is actually innocent is left up to the reader, and to Steve for he constantly wrestles with his own innocence, even after he is acquitted.

This book would be good to initiate conversations about right and wrong and how there are many gray areas.  It would also stimulate conversations about multiculturalism and poverty and the American justice system.  I would be personally interested in hearing what opinions students have on the American justice system and whether or not they believe it is okay to try a sixteen year-old as an adult.  This book would foster a lot of great journal writing activities for reflection and synthesis.

Critique
What makes this book a must-read is not only the topic the author chose to write about but how he chose to write the story as a screenplay.  The story is fast-paced, but not too fast to follow, and the journal writing interspersed with the dialogue of the trial and flashbacks really create a well-rounded plot that gives insight to what actually happened.  The author does not come out and say that Steve is guilty or innocent, which allows the reader to think about what has taken place and come to their own conclusions on Steve's guilt or innocence.


The characterization of Steve Harmon is also very realistic.  He seems like your average teenage boy who just hung out with the wrong crowd.  His journal writing allows the reader to see what he sees and feel what he feels as he spends his time in jail and in the courtroom.  It is also where the reader gets the bulk of insight into whether he believes he is guilty or innocent.  It also shows a growth in him throughout the trial and his experience, and even after he is acquitted he writes in his journal, but this time it's about finding out who he is.  The trial clearly has left him feeling like he doesn't know who he is, and throughout it all he tries to find himself.

The dialogue scenes did get a little long when they were in the courtroom, however that's the way courtrooms can be.  It was probably hard to give all the information necessary while still maintaining an interesting courtroom setting.  Some might find those scenes long and hard to read, luckily the author has enough going on between the flashbacks, journal writing, and courtroom scenes that it does not take over the whole book.

Overall, this book would definitely foster some great discussions with upper middle school and high school students.  Younger kids might be more apt to see a strict right and wrong, whereas the older students would see the gray areas involved in Steve's actions of being a "lookout" for the robbery, which is an ambiguous part of the story.  This would be a good book to include in a group of books about teens growing up, making sure to choose a wide variety of cultures and experiences.