Monster

Monster Reviewed by a middle school student


 * Author:** Walter Dean Myers
 * Genre:** Drama, Mystery
 * Length:** 281 pages
 * Recommended** **Grade** **Range****:** 8th – 11th
 * Year Published:** 1999

Summary

The story is about a kid who gets in trouble by hanging out with the wrong group of people. He is a lookout for a drugstore robbery with his “friends,” but someone ends up killing the owner. Now Steve is in court, blamed for a murder he did not commit. Steve needs the jury and the judge to be on his side and with the help of his lawyer, Mrs. O’ Brein, he might be able to get himself out of trouble.

The prosecutor in the trial calls someone a “monster," and the “monster” is Steve. He’s just a young kid who likes to make movies and write scripts. The book is basically a script and Steve Harmon’s journal entrees where he explores his thoughts and feelings about the trial. Is Steve really the monster they say he is?

Review The book //Monster// is a book that’s kind of hard to understand. That’s why I recommended it to grades 8 through 11. It is hard because of the storyline of the book. It has sentences that are a harder to understand. Another reason I didn’t like it is because you can tell what the ending in going to be. From the first few pages you knew the out come of the story.

The part I like about this story is how most of the book is written in a script way. It shows how much Steve likes movies and films because he chose to write it that way. He also writes in a journal entry format. It’s actually written to look like Steve wrote his journal in the book, and I enjoy that the font looks authentic.

The book has sentences that have a higher vocabulary and take time to comprehend. Once you get past that, however, it’s an easier book to read. I say that kids or even adults that want to read a story about a young kid that has some troubles in this life, then this is a good book for them. Walter Dean Myers has many other books with drama and mystery, like the books //Scorpion// and //Slam.// But over all this is a good story to read, and don’t be afraid to ask questions about vocabulary and other stuff; it will make the book more enjoyable!

Final Rating: 8.5 / 10