Monster
by Walter Dean Myers

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Book Summary Information

• ISBN13: 9780064407311
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Book Reviews of Monster

Book Review: ...Monster
Summary: 5 Stars

It is the story about what happens when the world turns inside out for Steve Harmon, a sixteen-year-old boy from Manhattan, who's life might come crashing down with it when the petrified teen finds himself on trial for felony murder. In order to adjust to this dramatic part of his life as it quickly develops, he decides to ignore what is going on around him in the courtroom and deal with it in a very creative way. He becomes the writer, the director, and the star of his own personal true, real-life horror flick. Told as it actually happened!

This story also has some engaging characters. The movie sure has an interesting cast. Take a look:
Monster...Featuring...
Sandra Petrocelli
(as the Dedicated Prosecutor)
Kathy O'Brien
(as the Defense Attorney with Doubts)
James King
(as the Thug)
Richard "Bobo" Evans
(as the Rat)
Osvaldo Cruz, member of the Diablos,
(as the Tough Guy Wannabe)
Lorelle Henry
(as the Witness)
Jose Delgado
(he found the body)
*---AND STARRING---*
16-year-old Steve Harmon
(as the Boy on Trial for Murder!)

Walter Dean Myers writing style in this particular book is very fluent and elaborative, not to mention convincing! The whole book is written like a movie script...all 281 of it. With using the phrases "Fade In", "Fade Out", "Cut To", "VO" (Voice Over), "Reaction Shot", "CU" (Close Up), and many many more you can actually mentally picture the movie in your head rolling on a movie projector and onto a movie screen.
For example:

CUT TO: CU of JURY
JUDGE: "Bring in the jury."
(Very LS as WORDS roll slowly over the screen as in the beginning.)
-This is the true story of Steve Harmon. This is the story of his life and of his trial-
(We see the jury member taking their places in the jury box.)
-It was not an episode that he expected. It was not the life or activity that he thought would fill every bit oh his soul or change what life meant to him.-
(The JUDGE has the verdicts and hands them to the CLERK as GUARDS stand behind the DEFENDANTS.)
-He has transcribed the images and conversations as he remembers them.-
The color begins to fade as the JURY FOREMAN reads verdicts. Two GUARDS begin to put handcuffs on ***** ***** as color changes to black and white. It is clear that the JURY has found him guilty. We see ***** being taken from the COURTROOM

This is just a little sample from the book, and what it is about. As I said before I HIGHLY recommend this to pretty much anyone and it is such a wonderful, powerful, and especially entertaining book. (I left out the names at the end because I didn't want to give away the ending.) If you think you would enjoy this book and want to know what happens to Steve Harmon read Monster by Walter Dean Myers and I guarantee you will not be left disappointed.

Summary of Monster

FADE IN: INTERIOR: Early morning in CELL BLOCK D, MANHATTAN DETENTION CENTER.

Steve (Voice-Over)
Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady prosecutor called me ... Monster.

Myers, known for the inner-city classic Motown and Didi (first published in 1984), proves with Monster that he has kept up with both the struggles and the lingo of today's teens. Steve is an adolescent caught up in the violent circumstances of an adult world--a situation most teens can relate to on some level. Readers will no doubt be attracted to the novel's handwriting-style typeface, emphasis on dialogue, and fast-paced courtroom action. By weaving together Steve's journal entries and his script, Myers has given the first-person voice a new twist and added yet another worthy volume to his already admirable body of work. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

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