Monster

10 comments

1. 

   Anonymous
   

   November 9, 1999

   Rating

   Myers should have this book made into a movie! What a great plot! I was pulled in and I really did go “hmmm…” Myers raises so many questions about what is right and wrong and what really makes a monster. Are you guilty only if you commit the crime?

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2. 

   Anonymous
   

   November 18, 1999

   Rating

   I loved this book Monster by Walter Dean Myers. It always had me at the edge of my seat wondereing what was going to happen next. I highly recommend this book to anyone on the high school reading level

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3. 

   Bakari Chavanu
   

   November 21, 1999

   Rating

   Even though I didn’t want to read yet another book about ayoung African American male in trouble with the law, I found thisstory compelling and difficult to put down. I read it quickly and wanted to discuss it with others who had read it. If I could, I would teach this novel for the purposes of not only talking about peer pressure and crime, but to explore the criminal justice system and how it impacts young African American males. This book shares similarities with other good works on the same topic: they include Sanyika Shakur’s Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, Nathan McCall’s Makes Me Wanna Holler, and Joseph Marshall’s Street Soldier. All of them deal with the plight of young African males growing up in the inner city.

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4. 

   John Zittel
   

   December 9, 1999

   Rating

   Steven Harmon was only a lookout in the four-person holdup of a drugstore, but during the robbery attempt the store owner was killed. Steven wasn’t even IN the store at the time of the murder. How guilty does that make Steven? Does his participation make him a MONSTER? That is the question left up to the jury in this courtroom trial. While the book in made up entirely of the trial, Myers uses mixed modes to depict the case. Steven, an aspiring filmmaker, records the trial’s events as a screenplay, complete with close ups, reaction shots, and voice overs. Between scenes, we read Steven’s handwritten journal about the case and see his fears of prison life and apprehensions about the proceedings in court. Mixed in are photographs of “Steven” in anguish. I found the telling of the story to be riveting and I feel it would provide terrific discussion in a classroom, perhaps 9th grade. Not only must we judge Steven’s guilt, we also judge others involved and learn about the justice system in all its glory. By the time the novel ends, we feel as if we’ve been with Steven the whole time, and know we would never want to experience these events. It makes us consider peer pressure, the choices we make, the integrity of people, and different degrees of guilt. I enjoyed MONSTER very much and highly recommend it for personal use or with a class.

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5. 

   A. Flores
   

   December 11, 1999

   Rating

   This novel really makes one think about society’s view of young black men, and about young black male’s preception of themselves. Why do good kids get into trouble? And why did Steve Harmon? What happens to good kids when they do get put into jail and they have to be with harden criminals-who do they become? MONSTER, brings these questions to light and there are no answers. But as a young hispanic female, recommending this book to a young african-american male is hard. One teen looked at me and looked at the cover and asked me if i thought he was a monster. Of course I do not. But I wish more than anything this young man would have picked up this book because I think that it would have helped him at looking at himself with the question Steve Harmon asks himself WHO AM I?.

   I truly believe anyone who picks up this book will also ask themselves the same question WHO AM I? I know I did.

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6. 

   Anonymous
   

   January 21, 2000

   Rating

   This is a very depressing book. It is a page turner and at some points it is a tounge twister. It was a good book and I reccomend it to young adults and higher.

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7. 

   Travis Breese
   

   April 30, 2000

   Rating

   Good book.I liked how the author drew me into the character’s mind. I loved the book’s style. Many students can use this for class performances. I would like to see this book made into a movie. The author makes you feel the character’s pain and suffering. I would recommend this book to anyone. The description used makes you feel that you are a part of the action. You must understand what the abbreviations are too follow the story. The book was very suspenseful. I could not put it down. I read the book in two days. The bond between the characters was very strong. In the ending, and throughout the whole story, you could put yourself in the place of the jury. If you did not like the decision of the jury maybe you could write to the author and tell him what you thought. When reading the book I felt very scared. This is one of the reasons kids of any age shouldn’t go to jail. When done I thought that it would be nice to be a lawyer and to try to save an innocent person’s life from prison. The title was kind of misleading in the beginning, but near the end I understood what it meant. The weird thing about the story was that there were three lawyers instead of two. The main character was very scared and helped me realize that family is the best thing in the world. What happens in the story reminds me of bad streets in towns and that you should avoid bad places and situations. You never know if a person is a bad person just by their looks.Don’t take small things in this world for granted because while in jail Sam realized that they mean alot. In closing, I definetely would read another book by this author. Travis Breese

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8. 

   Anonymous
   

   September 25, 2000

   Rating

   After reading about Steve Harmon, I could not get him out of my mind. I was moved by this book, because it seemed as though you are going through the arrest and the anticipation of awaiting the verdit. It was hard for me to put the book down. But once you read this snapshot of Steve Harmon’s ordeal, you’ll be confused, angry, happy and sad all at once. I applaud Mr. Myers on a job well done.

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9. 

   Anonymous
   

   April 24, 2001

   Rating

   I totally respect Walter Dean Myers for making this book like a movie. It was a great book to relate to, because it was so real, it was like you could put yourself in the story. There were so many characters to like Bobo, King and probably, the most important character, Steve Harmon. Also, The way Walter Dean Myers put the setting in New York. Its a great city to write a crime story in. My favorite part was really the whole book! It had great insite. The diary entries gave the reader a great perspective of what was going through Steve’s mind. This book is a very well written book. Was you begin reading you can’t put the book down. Its just to good to let go. Go buy and read all you want.

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10. 

    E. R. Bird
    

    January 3, 2004

    Rating

    My parents courted by playing the “first line” game. One person says the first line of a favorite book of theirs and the other person guesses the piece of literature quoted. “Monster”‘s first line is a doozy, and I doubt anyone, once hearing it, could do anything but guess its title correctly.

    “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is screaming for help”.

    So writes Steve Harmon, the sixteen year-old accused felon and hero of this story. Myers adeptly creates a new form of fiction in this Printz winner of a book. Finding jail too painful to endure, Steve recounts his life and court appearances by styling his journal in the form of a movie. The title of this movie “Monster” refers to a statement made by the leading prosecutor about Steve, the defendant. Falsely accused of aiding and abetting a robbery and consequent murder of a local drugstore and its manager, Steve recounts his current status, his past hopes and dreams, and the pain he must endure day to day. Kids reading this book might have some difficulty grasping exactly how this book’s protagonist is connected to the murder. Certainly there isn’t a detailed description of the extent to which Steve was connected to the killers in the neighborhood. But Myers gives his readers a lot of credit, believing they’ll figure out what’s going on, on their own. Steve’s experiences in jail are a pared down version of the t.v. show “Oz”. There are several references to sexual assault, in addition to violence and some mild language. I wouldn’t be handing this book to your five-year-old but for any kid that’s curious about jail or being “tough”, this book can do you no wrong.

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