"Monster" By Walter Dean Myers

Monster by Walter Dean Myers follows the story of Steve Harmon, a 16 year old boy who is on trial as an accomplice to the murder of a New York City drugstore clerk. The book is written as a movie script which is being thought up by Steve as he witnesses the proceedings of his trial. The movie script is inter-spliced with journal entries written by Steve as he reflects on his time spent in jail, including his fears of the future, and also his relationship with his parents during the trial. As the story progresses, we learn more about Steve’s actual involvement with crime, and about how sometimes it is possible to simply be a victim of one’s environment. The story is easy and exciting to read as it builds up to its climax.

At the beginning of the story we are presented with the fact that it is very unlikely that Steve will win the case. We quickly learn of the multitude of biases and tricks that are used against inner city blacks who find themselves involved with cases such as the one Steve is involved in. We learn that juries are often more likely to convict based on appearances rather than testimony, and that only one slip up in a courtroom can spell doom for a black male in many cases. Monster is particularly interesting in the way that it explores the influence that environment has on inner city crime, and the fact that the problem with inner city violence is not a series of unrelated crimes, but an issue which needs to be fixed from a societal perspective.

I, personally, greatly enjoyed reading Monster due partly because of its unusual story-telling structure, but also because of the way that Myers fuses Steve Harmon’s case with a gritty and “not-watered-down” light. I feel that this story could be greatly readable for any Middle School classroom. It is accurate in terms of the realities of the judicial and prison system, and also makes a powerful statement about the nature of crime and environment in an accessible way. As stated before, parts of the books are quite violent, due to the “gritty” nature of the subject matter. However, with a mature student, this book could be a useful key to teaching social issues of the inner city.