Module 5 - Monster

Summary:

This story is one that is very sad and very real.  Steve Harmon is a young African American boy that was pressured by James King and Richard “Bobo” Evans into the robbery of a convenient store.  These two characters were the main ones involved in planning the initial robbery. There was another young man involved named Osvaldo Cruz.  However, both Steve and Osvaldo were involved because King and Bobo made it clear that participating would not be optional.  Steve was the lookout and Osvaldo was to make sure no one came after them.  However, the store owner ended up getting shot and killed.  The sad part is that even though Steve Harmon did not actually shoot Mr. Nesbitt, he was charged with felony murder.  The book focuses on his time and experiences in jail along with his journey into trial.  He was facing up to life in prison and he didn’t even have a gun.  Eventually there was enough evidence to link King and Evans as the main culprits of the robbery and the shooting.  The charges against Steve Harmon were then dropped.   


APA Reference:


Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York, NY:  HarperCollins Publishers.

  

My Impressions:

My heart just bleeds for kids in these types of situations.  I watch children everyday get sucked into illegal activity because they feel that they do not have a choice.  Either they grow up with crime and feel they have no choice or they are pressured into it by others.  In this book, Steve Harmon gets a second chance but that is not always the case.  There are hundreds of children that go down every day because of one bad choice.  It is very heartbreaking.  I really like how this book actually places Steve Harmon in jail and allows the reader to feel his pain and to experience what he does.  There are so many people that do not even know the law and simply being a participant in a serious crime could land you in jail for the rest of your life.  This story clearly demonstrates that fact.  I highly recommend this book.  We live in a very low socioeconomic area and these types of crimes are very prevalent among our middle and high school students.    

    

Professional Reviews:

Booklist Review

Gr. 9-12. Myers combines an innovative format, complex moral issues, and an intriguingly sympathetic but flawed protagonist in this cautionary tale of a 16-year-old on trial for felony murder. Steve Harmon is accused of acting as lookout for a robbery that left a victim dead; if convicted, Steve could serve 25 years to life. Although it is clear that Steve did participate in the robbery, his level of involvement is questionable, leaving protagonist and reader to grapple with the question of his guilt. An amateur filmmaker, Steve tells his story in a combination of film script and journal. The "handwritten" font of the journal entries effectively uses boldface and different sizes of type to emphasize particular passages. The film script contains minimal jargon, explaining camera angles (CU, POV, etc.) when each term first appears. Myers' son Christopher provides the black-and-white photos, often cropped and digitally altered, that complement the text. Script and journal together create 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. Although descriptions of the robbery and prison life are realistic and not overly graphic, the subject matter is more appropriate for high-school-age than younger readers.--Debbie Carton

Carton, D. (1999, May 1). [Review of the book Monster]. Available from Booklist Website:  http://www.booklistonline.com/Monster-Walter-Dean-Myers/pid=1707796

Library Uses:

a.       I think that this book could be used for a lesson on recognizing and discussing racial profiling along with understanding the death penalty.

b.      This book could also be used for lessons in debate because of both sides of the trial.