Monster Hardcover - 1999
by Walter Dean Myers
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, 16-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the terrible course his life has taken.
From the rear cover
Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. MONSTER.
FADE IN: INTERIOR COURT. A guard sits at a desk behind Steve. Kathy O'Brien, Steve's lawyer, is all business as she talks to Steve.
O'BRIENLet me make sure you understand what's going on. Both you and this king character are on trial for felony murder. Felony Murder is as serious as it gets. . . . When you're in court, you sit there and pay attetion. You let the jury know that you think the case is a serious as they do. . . .
STEVE
You think we're going to win ?
O'BRIEN (seriously)
It probably depends on what you mean by "win."
Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout.
Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of "the system," cluttered with cynical authority figures and unscrupulous inmates, who will turn in anyone to shorten their own sentences. For the first time, Steve is forced to think about who he is as he faces prison, where he may spend all the tomorrows of his life.As a way of coping with the horrific events that entangle him, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, decides to transcribe his trial into a script, just like in the movies. He writes it all down, scene by scene, the story of how his whole life was turned around in an instant. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred and his vision obscured until he can no longer tell who he is or what is the truth. This compelling novel is Walter Dean Myers's writing at its best.
2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2000 Michael L. Printz Award, 1999 National Book Award Finalist, 01 Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Lit Finalist, 00-01 Tayshas High School Reading List, and 00-01 Black-Eyed Susan Award Masterlist2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), Hornbook Fanfare 2000, Michael L. Printz Award 2000, 2000 Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor Book, 2000 Quick Picks for Young Adults (Recomm. Books for Reluctant Young Readers), and 2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
Details
- Title Monster
- Author Walter Dean Myers
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition First
- Pages 288
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Amistad Books for Young Readers, New York
- Date 1999-04
- Illustrated Yes
- ISBN 9780060280772 / 0060280778
- Weight 0.8 lbs (0.36 kg)
- Dimensions 8.3 x 5.9 x 1 in (21.08 x 14.99 x 2.54 cm)
- Ages 08 to 12 years
- Grade levels 3 - 7
- Reading level 670
-
Themes
- Ethnic Orientation: African American
- Geographic Orientation: New York
- Library of Congress subjects Trials (Murder), African Americans
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 98040958
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Media reviews
Citations
- ALA Best Books Young Adults, 01/01/2000, Page 1341
- ALA Recmd for Reluctant YA's, 01/01/2000, Page 1361
- Booklist, 05/01/1999, Page 0
- Booklist Ed Choice Youth, 01/01/2000, Page 820
- Hornbook Guide to Children, 07/01/1999, Page 305
- Ingram Children's Advance, 06/01/1999, Page 74
- Kirkus Review - Children, 05/01/1999, Page 725
- New York Times, 12/05/1999, Page 100
- Publishers Weekly, 01/01/2001, Page 58
- School Library Journal, 07/01/1999, Page 98
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