Monster

Monster

Meyers, W.D. (1999). Monster. New York: Harper.

Monster is the story of a 16-year-old, black, male named Steve Harmon who is accused and on trial for the robbery of a local pharmacy and the subsequent death of its owner. Interestingly written in the style that would read like a script for a reality show, by Steve, and including pages from his own personal journal which he writes as a means to endure the terror and overwhelming desperation he feels about being in jail, Monster gives the reader an in-depth view into not only what Steve is experiencing from the viewers’ standpoint, but a close-up of his inner conflicts as well.  We are able to witness his most intimate fears and concerns as he is “turned over” by some of the other participants to the crime and then eventually is able to establish that he was not involved.  An interesting twist at what should be a happy ending is achieved when we see that Steve, because of this emotionally charged journey he has just experienced, has, along with others, begun to question who he is.  He has begun to question his thoughts and decisions and how his parents and others see him as a person.

With a plot that reads like something from the newspaper, Monster is easily related to with its very real characters and raw emotions and would be an excellent choice for a high school humanities class to use with all its open-ended issues.