Type of bind: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
ISBN number: 0439202183
Label: Amistad
Manufacturer: Amistad
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: May 31, 1999
Publishing house: Amistad
Age index: Ages 9-12
Release Date: April 21, 1999
Sale Popularity Level: 50626
Studio: Amistad
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Amazon.com:
'Monster' is what the prosecutor called 16-year-old Steve Harmon for his supposed role in the fatal shooting of a convenience-store owner. But was Steve really the lookout who gave the 'all clear' to the murderer, or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? In this innovative novel by Walter Dean Myers, the reader becomes both juror and witness during the trial of Steve's life. To calm his nerves as he sits in the courtroom, aspiring filmmaker Steve chronicles the proceedings in movie script format. Interspersed throughout his screenplay are journal writings that provide insight into Steve's life before the murder and his feelings about being held in prison during the trial. 'They take away your shoelaces and your belt so you can't kill yourself no matter how bad it is. I guess making you live is part of the punishment.'
Myers, known for the inner-city classic Motown and Didi (first published in 1984), proves with Monster that he has kept up with both the struggles and the lingo of today's teens. Steve is an adolescent caught up in the violent circumstances of an adult world--a situation most teens can relate to on some level. Readers will no doubt be attracted to the novel's handwriting-style typeface, emphasis on dialogue, and fast-paced courtroom action. By weaving together Steve's journal entries and his script, Myers has given the first-person voice a new twist and added yet another worthy volume to his already admirable body of work. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
Product Description:
Read by a full cast
2 hours 34 minutes, 2 cassettes
1999 National Book Award Finalist
Parent's Guide to Children's Media Honors
Publishing houses Weekly Best Books of 1999
Horn Book Honor Book
A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that 16-year-old Steve Harmon served as the lookout. Was he involved or was he simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? An amateur filmmaker, Steve transcribes his trial into a movie script, showing scene by scene how his life was turned around in an instant.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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Monster is a strongly written novel with an even stronger theme. The few characters that are deeply developed, although most are not developed at all, are really able to connect with the reader, and get inside their head. The pacing is very easy to follow with it being very fast paced in most places, although some parts are rather tedious, especially the lawyers' closing arguments. The plot and point-of-view can be a little confusing, because the novel switches from third to very first person often, but the important plot points are clear. The setting is shown in a rather unusual way, and it can sometimes be unclear as to where you are, but the movie script does provide an interesting read.
Rated by buyers 
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Steve Harmon's grey and he is in jail. He is still on trial for murder and he is sixteen years old. This book has a powerful, haunting impression. The plot is a 16 year old teenager named Steve Harmon who is in court for murdering a drug store owner. His friends like, Osvaldo Cruz and Freddy Alou are around the age 16 and they are in court with Steve for the same murder.The theme of the book is to never do something bad that will make you go to court or jail. I liked this book because on page 265 it shows his feelings about being in court. It also shows his feelings about being in jail and losing a file on court. I recommend this book to non fictional readers and people in the 7th grade and up.
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