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Title: Monster (rpkg) by Walter Dean Myers ISBN: 0-06-440731-4 Publisher: Harpercollins Juvenile Books Pub. Date: 08 May, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (332 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Fast read, good book
Comment: I found Monster a very intriguing read. It is about a sixteen-year-old African-American boy, named Steve, on trial for felony murder. Steve keeps track of his time spent in jail and on trial by writing a script for a movie. Through the script and Steve's personal journal entries, you watch the story unfold. Because of the movie script format and the events in the book, this is a very fast read that keeps you enthralled until the very last page - and you'll definitely be thinking about the ending!
This book is very well written. The characters all have their own specific personalities that they don't stray from. Their speech patterns and actions describe them more thoroughly as well. When reading this book, the beginning was a bit confusing because Myers gave you very little to go on, but by withholding information, he allowed you to make up your own mind about the case. Aside from that, the only downside of this book is that unless you do some sort of character activity, it's very hard to keep the characters straight. All you get is their last name and what they say in the script, so you really need to be paying attention when the characters are first described because that's just about all they are.
Aside from some confusion on the characters, this book is very good. Its plot is very clear and you learn about the settings through actions, not descriptions. Everything fit the time frame of present day. By switching between the movie script and Steve's journal entries, you get both Steve's emotions and hard facts. While it sounds like it would be confusing, it really isn't because the formatting changes with each switch (a typed appearance for the script and handwriting for the journal entries). The ending is very good and I consider it a proper ending - not one just written up to end the story. While it leaves you with some questions, that makes the book very powerful. Overall, this book is well written and a fast read.
Rating: 5
Summary: A thoughtful, emotional novel about a Black teen on trial
Comment: 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.
Rating: 4
Summary: Review of "Monster" written by Walter Dean Myers
Comment: The novel "Monster" written by Walter Dean Myers deals with a 16 year old black boy named Steve Harmon, who is a defendant in a trial. He is indirectly involved in a murder of a drugstoreowner after a robbery. In the book there are two different kinds of writing types. On the on hand there is a script, the acting during the trial. It is emotionless and without deeper feelings. On the other hand there is a handwritten diary of Steve. In these parts he describes the situation and his feelings in jail. But not only his feelings, also the feelings of his family are presented in a dramatically way. When Steve describes the plot, you can imagine the situation in your mind very good.
In my opinion there is a high standard of reality in the story. The methods of the defendence and the prosecuting attorney are presented detaildly.
The tension all over the book is on a high level, because the reader doesn't know the ending of the trial, the judgement. There is the "big" question all over the story if Steve is guilty or not. After the judgement you can also ask if Steve is guilty. Two of the main characters are the defendents Steve and King. King is the antagourist with his criminality and his appearance in front of the jury. Is Steve the protagourist? There is no direct answer. He wants to show the jury that he is not guilty, but it is not really clear, because in front the stand he lies that he was not in the drugstore at the 22nd of December, the day of the robbery.
On the one hand it is interesting that the reader gets to know a lot of different characters on the witness stand, but sometimes it can be a little bit boring when the prosecutor Ms. Petrocelli asks many questions to a witness.
The level of speech is not very high, which means you can read the book easily. Funny is the colloquial language, for example "sit on john pants down".
At the end of the novel there is a epilogue. I think the epilogue is necessary to know what happened after the trial. It is interesting to look into the future, how Steve's life is changed after the hard time in jail.
When you want to know something about the situation in a jail in New York or the situation in a trial in the USA this book is a nice document of this things and it will be reward to read the novel "Monster".
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Title: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson ISBN: 014131088X Publisher: Speak Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $8.99 |
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Title: Slam! by Walter Dean Myers ISBN: 0590486683 Publisher: Scholastic Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Hoops by Walter Dean Myers ISBN: 0440938848 Publisher: Laure Leaf Pub. Date: 15 March, 1983 List Price(USD): $5.50 |
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Title: Bad Boy: A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers ISBN: 0064472884 Publisher: Amistad Press Pub. Date: 07 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Scorpions (rack) by Walter Dean Myers ISBN: 0064470660 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 25 April, 1990 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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