Monster

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

Steve, a young man who is passionate about making movies, chooses to express himself and share his current situation by telling his story in a peculiar way through a screenplay and journal entries. He finds himself in a horrific situation surrounded by sadness and worry. He has been accused of being an accomplice in a robbery and murder of a drug store owner, Algunaldo Nesbitt, and is facing the death penalty or life in prison. The trial begins and Sandra Petrocelli, the prosecutor, mentions that most people in the community are law abiding, hard working citizens. But, there are also monsters. These monsters are “people in our community who are willing to steal, kill, and disregard the rights of others.” This marks an important point in the plot, for Steve struggles to believe he is a monster. And, he refuses to allow his attorney, Kathey O’Brien, to believe he is guilty.

Through his journal entries, the reader can’t help feel compassion for him as we get a glimpse of life inside prison. His fear of spending the rest of his life in prison and to be seen as a monster transcends, exits the book, and holds the reader tightly.

As the trial continues, this nail biting story captures your interest by forcing you to take sides and decide whether he is guilty or not  after Bobo, who is also on trial, testifies that Steve was the one who was supposed to give him and his accomplice, King, a signal informing them that all was clear and they could go on a rob the store. Steve takes the stand and claims he was not in the store that day; he was “looking around taking mental notes about places he wanted to film for a school film project. And after a witness, Mr. Sawicki (a teacher), testifies in favor of Steve, the reader can finally exhale and see a ray of hope. His lawyer, Obrien, shares her closing statement and helps the jury see that Steve’s “job” was to signal that the store was empty, but Bobo said he didn’t signal anything. She also mentioned Steve did not receive payment for doing his part. Can he be guilty? After an intense waiting period, the jury finds Steve not guilty. He returns home with his family and focuses on filmmaking.

Author Walter Dean Myers is now gone, but he has left a legacy of talent and passion. He was an award winning writer and mainly wrote for young people. He wrote over one hundred books that earned him numerous awards. He wrote many books for young adults. In 2007, he wrote Harlem Summer and What They Found: Love on 145th Street. The following year, he wrote Game and Sunrise Over Fallujah. He continued to write and added a more books to his repertoire: Riot, Lockdown, Kick, Carmen, Tags, The Getover, and many more.

It is impossible not to connect with the main character. In my opinion, the opportunity to role play would be an excellent way to bring the book to life. Students can choose sides, form groups (for and against), and go home and prepare to defend Steven or send him to jail for the rest of his life. This can then lead them to making their own movie and acting Steve’s film. They may chose their character: judge, defend lawyer, prosecutor, guards, prisoners, defendants, etc! It can be recorded and uploaded to YouTube!