Cathy Young
FADE IN: Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon sits on the edge of a cot in Cell Block D of the Manhattan Detention Center. A dingy gray, early morning light filters in from the window and splashes his light brown face. Next to him, as the camera moves into focus, we see the suit he will wear to court. His trial starts today.
This is the beginning of "Monster!" -- a film written and directed by and also starring Steve Harmon. It's the "incredible story of how one guy's life was turned around by a few events, and how he might have to spend the rest of his life behind bars...told as it actually happened."
Cinema Vérité, you say? That's a term that Steve's film teacher might use to describe a film that "conveys realism." No, "Monster!" is even more real (and frightening) than that. This is the story of what happens when the world turns inside out for Steve Harmon, when the teen finds himself on trial for felony murder. In order to cope as the drama of his life unfolds, Steve blocks out the events and dialogue that swirl around him. He's the writer, the director, and the star of his own real-life horror story. And eerily, he has no idea how "Monster!" will end.
Neither do we.
What is certain is that Monster, Walter Dean Myers's new blockbuster novel, will captivate readers' imaginations from its opening pages until long after the last scene fades. In fact, Myers unravels Steve Harmon's story so masterfully, so sensitively, that very few readers will be able to set the book down without feeling as though their own lives have been changed somehow. Yes, Monster is that good.
Who are this novel's intended readers? More specifically, who should they be? Some consideration of these questions is necessary for this unusual book. Mature teens will devour Monster. Adults will too, and in fact will find the mixed screenplay/journal format refreshing and fast-paced, not kid-like at all. Frankly, though, I believe younger teens may be impacted most profoundly (and positively) by the story of Steve Harmon, who stumbles almost unknowingly into a nightmare that might keep him locked behind bars the rest of his life. However, these younger teen readers may need some guidance and support while reading Monster. It's a gritty tale. While Myers deals discreetly with the jail's lack of privacy (open toilets) and frequent invasions of privacy (for example, sexual coercion between inmates), he doesn't obscure those realities. We watch Steve sit in that courtroom and sympathize with his stomach distress, which is not merely the result of nervousness over the outcome of the trial but worsened because he's not comfortable using the toilet in open sight of the other prisoners.
As he writes in his introductory note to readers, Walter Dean Myers, in writing Monster , hoped to show the steps that lead someone "from innocence to criminal acts and, eventually, to prison." The award-winning author spent months interviewing killers, drug pushers, prostitutes, and other criminals serving time in prison before he set pen to paper for Monster. These interviews revealed a common thread: "...that no one went from being completely innocent to living in jail in one dramatic step. There always seemed to be interim stages. Decisions to bend, not break, the law. Minor infractions...would lead to petty thefts. Petty thefts and fare-beating might lead to street-corner drug sales. Each experience...would give permission for the next experience. Eventually a line would be crossed..."
And that's where we find Steve Harmon: 16 years old and on trial for murder. His parents' hearts break as they watch the drama unfold from their seats in the back of the courtroom. Did Steve serve as the lookout when Bobo Evans and James King robbed the drugstore and then killed the store's owner in the commotion? Or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Is he being framed by a couple of losers he used to call friends? In the tension-filled courtroom, reality begins to blur for Steve. How on earth did he get here? Is he a monster?
Walter Dean Myers's new novel will shock, disturb, awaken, and inspire.
—Cathy Young
Cathy Young is the founder of www.read-this.com, which specializes in creating web sites for authors, illustrators, and publishers.
School Library Journal
Gr 7-12-Walter Dean Myers' novel (HarperCollins, 1999) is brought to life by a full cast of actors in this excellent audio interpretation. The author opens this audiobook by discussing many of his interviews with young prison inmates and his desire to discover what drives them to a life of crime, what makes them become monsters in society. From the outset, listeners are caught up in Steve Harmon's life as he documents the events for the film script he is writing for his high school video club. Was Steve actually the lookout in a robbery gone awry in which a man was murdered, or was he simply at the wrong place at the wrong time? The suspense and tension remain high until the end when we are told whether the jury will find Steve guilty or innocent of the crime for which he is on trial. This auditory delight is presented in the clear, well-enunciated and articulated voices of a full cast of actors. The narrator, with his deep melodious voice, reads Steve's film directions and provides the quick scene shifts, guiding listeners through the story. His voice combined with the voices of the other actors, the strong plot, and the unusual story format grabs readers and holds their interest throughout. This interpretation could entice reluctant readers to become Myers' fans. Monster is a must purchase for all middle and high school libraries. English teachers should be encouraged to use this audiobook as a possible writing prompt or as an introduction to readers' theater.-Lynda N. Short, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Lexington, KY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Sutton
Taylor-made for readers' theater, this book is a natural to get teens reading—and talking.
—Horn Book Magazine
Kirkus Reviews
In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty's Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day's action. Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist's guilt or innocence. The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve's terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers's point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a "positive moral decision" was not made. (illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 12-14)
From the Publisher
Chilling and engrossing.” — New York Times
“A riveting courtroom drama that will leave a powerful, haunting impression on young minds.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A novel that in both form and subject guarantees a wide teen audience.” — Horn Book (starred review)
“A riveting novel with breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes. Taut and moving.” — Kirkus Reviews
“The sheer authenticity of the novel and its presentation are disquieting—and totally riveting.” — Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Committee
“The drama of the situation and the ethical questions raised will keep the audience not just reading but thinking.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"A fascinating portrait of a terrified young man wrestling with his conscience. The tense drama of the courtroom scenes will enthrall readers, but it is the thorny moral questions raised in Steve’s journal that will endure in readers’ memories.” — Booklist
“Monster is a subtle and provocative novel about what it means to be alive in our time.” — Riverbank Review
“Riveting. An emotionally charged story that readers will find compelling and disturbing." — School Library Journal
"The youthful, vulnerable voice will draw in YA readers, boys and girls.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
“The unusual format and easy style combines with powerful content to make an unforgettable book.” — Language Arts
New York Times
Chilling and engrossing.
Horn Book (starred review)
A novel that in both form and subject guarantees a wide teen audience.
Riverbank Review
Monster is a subtle and provocative novel about what it means to be alive in our time.
Booklist
"A fascinating portrait of a terrified young man wrestling with his conscience. The tense drama of the courtroom scenes will enthrall readers, but it is the thorny moral questions raised in Steve’s journal that will endure in readers’ memories.”
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
"The youthful, vulnerable voice will draw in YA readers, boys and girls.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
The drama of the situation and the ethical questions raised will keep the audience not just reading but thinking.
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Committee
The sheer authenticity of the novel and its presentation are disquieting—and totally riveting.
Booklist
"A fascinating portrait of a terrified young man wrestling with his conscience. The tense drama of the courtroom scenes will enthrall readers, but it is the thorny moral questions raised in Steve’s journal that will endure in readers’ memories.”
Language Arts
The unusual format and easy style combines with powerful content to make an unforgettable book.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
The drama of the situation and the ethical questions raised will keep the audience not just reading but thinking.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
The drama of the situation and the ethical questions raised will keep the audience not just reading but thinking.
OCT/NOV 00 - AudioFile
What if you were 16 years old, on trial for felony murder, and your degree of guilt had become confused within your own mind? How would you discover the truth? Monster, winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, is written as the screenplay that prisoner Steve Harmon creates during his incarceration and trial, in an attempt to reconstruct and reconfigure the events of the crime. The production is recorded as a full-cast dramatization, and it’s difficult to imagine how it might have been accomplished more effectively. The youth and innocence of Jeron Alston’s voice, as Steve, summons the listener into his limited reality and serves as a counterpoint to the authenticity of the courtroom drama, presented through the voices of the prosecutor, the D.A., the defendants, and the witnesses. Flashbacks deliver the backstory and raise essential doubts in the mind of the listener. A superb recording of an intriguing work. T.B. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award, SYNC 2015 © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine
