Review 10: Monster

Citation: Myers, Walter Dean. Performed by Peter Francis James. Monster. New York: Recorded Books, 2000. Print.

Annotation: In a world where accused criminals are automatically known as monsters, 16 year old Steve Harmon must prove to a jury and ultimately himself that he is not a monster, but a human being.

Justification for Rejection:

Myers' original approach and intriguing plot catch the reader's (or in this case listener's) in this courtroom novel. Myers' manages to address issues of racism, prejudice and the social justice system in one fairly succinct plot line. Steve Harmon's character gives voice to questions of ethics, morality and justice. His character is stigmatized and accused, to the point where even Steve is not sure of his own humanity. Steve's internal questioning and self-doubt resonates with adolescent readers, but I feel this title quickly gets caught up in the straight-forward plot details, at the expensive of potentially more meaningful reflection.

Since my experience of Monster was via an audio recording, I decided to pick up a copy of the printed edition as well. Thumbing through the book, I am noticing the effects of radical change in format. There are pertinent pictures which appear at just the right time in the story. Myers' “screenplay” approach takes on a whole new life in print, mimicking an actual screenplay with camera directions. Portions of the story which are intended as a first person narrative are printed in Steve's handwriting in order to mimic a journal entry. So much of this novel's strengths are in the formatting that I feel I must re-evaluate the work in print. As for my “rejection”, let me specify that it is for the audio recording of Monster and as far as the book itself goes- the jury is still out.

Genre: Printz award winner, Search for Identity, Realistic/Problem Novel, Multicultural, Audio title.