Book Review: Monster

Monster

by Walter Dean Myers

Summary

Written in a filmed interview form, Steve Harmon, a 16-year-old African-American male is on trial for felony murder. Steve is a student of Mr. Sawicki, the film teacher who has his students do projects with video cameras. Steve’s go to subject of filming is his neighborhood and showing the truth behind the mayhem. 







From the beginning of the court case in July, Steve has an inner monologue of whether he is truly guilty of doing something he knows he did not do or if he really was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Steve is referred to as a monster and he continues to label himself as that throughout the novel. Although 16 years old, Steve is in jail at the Manhattan detention center in New York with grown men and is subjected to see violence and gang rapes, even in his own cell. While he is personally not a victim to the violence, other than one man stealing meat from his food tray, he is nervous to be in there and notes how if he wasn’t in jail then he would not have been able to even visit inside because of his age.







Steve is visited by his father, mother, and from the outside of the prison walls his brother, Jerry. Jerry is only 11 years old, but despite the age difference they seem to be pretty close to each other. Both parents are obviously distraught and the father mentions how he never expected his son to be in this certain type of circumstance. Mom doesn’t visit as often because she is taking it harder than dad. 







Mr. Nesbitt, a convenient store owner, was murdered when two men, James King and Robert “Bobo” Evans tried to rob his store. Around 4 o’clock on December 22nd, the two men entered the store after claiming that Steve gave them the go ahead signal. Mr. Nesbitt fought back despite being an older man, but he was overtaken by King. King was able to apprehend the gun that Nesbitt had a permit for and was legally allowed to keep in his store. Evans said that king was high and that was probably the reason why he shot the man because there was no previous plan for violence. Evans, a 22-year-old male also living in Manhattan, was an acquaintance to Steve, but Steve stayed away from him for the most part simply because Evans had multiple run ins with the law in the past and had a reputation for being a little off his rocker. Like Evans, King was only an acquaintance to Steve, rarely caught together talking, but when they did it was only about basketball or simple things like the weather.







Steve could tell from the beginning that the odds against him in the court room were not good. He was judged from the get go by the jury as a typical young black male in a rough neighborhood. Throughout the entire court time, Steve was extremely respectful and spoke in a well rehearsed way. His attorney, a white woman named Kathy O’Brien, trained him to properly answer a question with the right amount of details and background information using a Styrofoam cup in one of their meetings. Throughout the entire book you can tell that O’Brien is not fond of Steve, but she does do her job well and treats him with the respect she is required to treat him with. You never see her go out of her way to console a child who consistently repeats that he is not guilty and was not involved in the crime. At times, Steve is even interested in O’Brien‘s personal life and tries to spark conversation with her, but she is quick to answer with a short response and a lack of emotion.







The prosecutor, Sandra Petrocelli, is pushing for the death penalty, or at least life in prison without parole, for all of the members associated with the crime committed. She is a harsh woman who speaks when she wants and often interrupts O’Brien and King’s lawyer, Briggs. Thankfully, Steve’s parents attend the court proceedings and are there for him on an emotional and mental level. Steve never mentions his home life or how close he was to his parents, but you can tell by the way that they are there for him that they do care and trust his judgment that what he did or didn’t do was right. During a meeting with his mom, she tells Steve to never let anyone make him think that he’s guilty, and that she thinks he is innocent and that’s all that matters.







For a majority of the book, we hear the testimonies of multiple characters, both involved and not involved in the felony murder. Besides the small side comments made by Steve, the other witnesses never seem to mention him doing anything other than showing the signal that it was clear to go in. Steve never showed a signal, but Evans took that as a means of saying all was clear by showing nothing. The majority of the characters are only introduced for a minor portion of the book, specifically with the testimonies on the witness stand. The man who stands out the most is Osvaldo. Osvaldo was told by police that there would be a change in his sentence time if he was able to give the correct information that pinpointed who actually committed the crime. Most of the attorneys were able to sway the jury to have them understand that Osvaldo would say anything for a plea bargain. With that being said, most of his information got tossed out the window. 







After the trial, Steve was marked as not guilty and King was marked as guilty. Evans was already in jail, and ended up back in for longer for petty crimes. Steve tries to hug O’Brien after the trial, but she blatantly denies it, making Steve wonder if she sees him as an innocent or a monster. 







Steve continues to work on his media study and takes short clips of himself speaking about who he really is versus what people think he is. With the help of his little brother, it becomes the new highlight of his life. His father leaves the family and an obvious distance has occurred between the two. 

Book Trailer

There are quite a few student made trailers for the book. A few of my favorites are as follows: one, two, and three.

Themes

Murder, Death, Choices, Lies, Deceit, Betrayal, Family, Fear, and Justice.

Similar Themed Books

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher and Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes.

Other Books by Walter Dean Myers

W.D. Myers has an extensive list of books written.

• For grades K-2: 18 books from the years 1969 to 2011.
• For grades 3-5: 40 books from the years 1969 to 2011.
• For grades 6-8: 55 books from the years 1977 to 2013.
• For grades 9-12: 32 books from the years 1977 to 2015; Monster falling under this age group and written in 1999.

Per the bibliography tab on his website, Myers has written 106 books. Unfortunately, we will see no more from him because he passed away in 2014 at the age of 76.

Teaching Ideas

Pose the following questions in a discussion over the idea of a "monster":

• What does it mean to truly be a monster?
• Would you consider Steve Harmon to be a monster? 
• Why or why not? 
• Who in the book would you consider to be an actual monster? Why?
• Who do you consider to be a monster in present time?

Court case questions:

• If you were Steve, how would you have handled the court room case?
• How do you think Steve really felt about the way his attorney reacted to him at the end of the trial?
• Why do you think she acted that way? Would you have acted that way or no? Why?
• Would you have worked for Steve?