Why Monster

Before reading this novel I was wondering what book am I going to pick for my summer reading assignment. Scrolling down the list of books I have to choose from, none of any interest to me. Here I am wondering if there even is a good action book on the list that will keep me on the edge of my seat. Then I come across Monster, the cover photo on the book intrigued me, as I have never seen a book with a cover photo as a mugshot. Also by looking at the title the word monster comes to me as a heroic storyline within a movie or book that a see or read, but along with the heroic storyline comes times where there is action packed into the book. Me knowing this and all the things that came into my head by glancing at this book allowed me to have some interest in the book and even more pick it up and read it.

          I had no personal connection with this book after reading it. I don’t want to spoil a lot but this book involves the justice system, and I have not had any experiences with the justice system or anything of that nature, making me immune to connecting personally with this novel. 

Monster By Walter Dean Myers

In a novel from Myers 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 eye grabbing journal entries after each day’s action. Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner, or for something else but I will let that be up to you to find out. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a dull, trapped, frighting prison where most nights he can hear other inmates yelling at each other screaming and dark noises, he reviews each one of the events leading to this point in his life. Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist. The format of this heart moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing, with breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue arranged with thought. These journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s eye closing terror and unique confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s main point of the reading, if you would want to know, you gotta read the book.