Monster

Title: Monster
Author: Walter Dean Myers
ISBN: 0060280778


Plot Summary: Steve Harmon is a 16-year-old African American teenager who has been arrested and is on trial for the murder of a shopkeeper. Before his arrest, he was active in his school's film club, and frequently fantasizes about making a movie about the trial, his experiences in jail, and his own inner thoughts. Although the reader is initially not sure whether Steve is guilty or not, we come to see through Steve's diary and "screenplay" of his experiences that there is more to the case that first meets the eye, and that Steve may not be a perpetrator of a heinous crime, but rather an unwitting victim of circumstance and a victim of a justice system whose scale is tipped against poor, young minority males.


Critical Evaluation: This book is written from the protagonist's perspective, alternating between the first-person reflections in his diary and the screenplay of his courtroom experiences he hope one day to use, assuming he is not convicted. Although readers are inundated in books and other media with "true crime" stories, this one is unique in that it is told from the perspective of the defendant, rather than that of law enforcement, legal representation, or other more sensationalistic sources.


Reader's Annotation: Steve Harmon, a young African-American man, is being tried for a crime of which he swears he is not guilty. How can he beat a system convinced of his guilt, a lack of evidence to support his claims, and his own fear of retribution from his co-defendants?

About the Author: Walter Dean Myers was born Walter Milton Myers in West Virginia in 1937. His birth parents gave him up for adoption to a man named Dean, who lived in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. He started writing at an early age as a coping mechanism for a speech impediment. He left high school early to join the military, then wrote part-time for various periodicals while holding a variety of positions before gaining literary success with the publication of his first young adult novel, Where does a Day Go? He has since written a number of books for children and young adults, and currently lives in Jersey City, New Jersey with his second wife and four children.

Genre: Fiction, Courtroom Drama, Crime

Curriculum Ties: Sociology, Civics

Booktalking Ideas:

Hook: Steve's relationship with Mr. Sawicki, the teacher who mentors his film club.
Approach: Character and plot-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: Discuss elements in Steve's life, innate talents versus circumstances that make him want to become a filmmaker. Mr. Sawicki's encouragement of Steve, along with that of his family, may be his ultimate salvation: someone who wants to make something of his life, and who is given the tools to do so, will not have to turn to a life of crime in order to survive, as long as the system does not assume his guilt anyway.

Hook: The prosecutor calls Steve a monster.
Approach: Character-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: Does the prosecutor genuinely believe Steve is a monster, and if so why? Other than Steve's race, and his having been in the wrong place at the wrong time, is there any indication that he is actually guilty, let alone a monster? Steve is acquitted, but this does not necessarily mean he is either partially or entirely innocent. Discuss degree to which Steve tries to insulate himself against becoming what the prosecution claims, starts to think he already is one. Surrounded by monsters, especially in prison and in the courtroom, where his co-defendents are all trying to pin the blame on someone else. Could evolve into a broader discussion of racial profiling.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 7-12

Challenge Issues: Violence, mild offensive language, sexual content.
Much of this book takes place from the perspective of a character who is being held in jail in between his time in a courtroom, and has been accused of a violent crime. Those around him frequently use crude language and have often been jailed for violent crimes of their own, although the language shown in this book is relatively tame considering its setting. A witness in one of the courtroom scenes claims to have been sexually harassed by other prisoners; although Steve is never subjected to violence or prison rape himself, it is a constant threat. The main point of the book, however, has less to do with the circumstances of Steve's arrest and more with the fact that he has been swallowed up by a system that believes from the start that he is guilty by dint of his race, geographic location, and socioeconomic status. As such, I would argue that the book's more controversial aspects serve to highlight the injustice inherent in Steve's arrest, and by extension in the justice system that comes so close to claiming yet another innocent victim.

Why I Chose This Book: I have long been a fan of procedural television shows, and have read a number of stories having to do with crimes and court trials, both true and fictional. This one impressed me as much with its fresh perspective as with its ability to keep the reader guessing about the true victims and perpetrators in the story. The narrator is precocious for his age, but never in a way that feels artificial or disingenuous, and even the less-than-conclusive ending will provide food for thought for anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery, procedural, or courtroom drama.