Monster: A Graphic Novel

I listened to the Audiobook narration of this book. The narrator is a 5 star narrator. It's the format that was the problem.

This book desperately tries to be something profound and gets so caught up in doing something different that it loses the heart of the story. It's written almost like an early screenplay as if the goal is to make this be as easy as possible to adapt into film. Problem is, the story jumps around so much that there is no reason to adapt to a screenplay.

Interesting format. I didn't really “believe” this book, the idea that a sixteen-year-old boy was facing life in prison for allegedly acting as a lookout for a robbery gone wrong. The crime did not seem to match the threatened consequence.

I also disliked how little insight we got into the characters' minds, and how Myers chose to leave the actuality of the main character's guilt ambiguous. This story is a story told for the sole purpose of making a point, rather than for the point of telling a story, which is not a technique that tends to resonate well with me.

Monster is the story of black teenager Steve Harmon, who is incarcerated and treated as a murderer before and throughout his trial without a single shred of physical evidence. The story follows Steve's trial, where he is accused of acting as a lookout for a convenience store burglary gone wrong, the proprietor shot dead. Myers tells the story in multiple formats, but most often as a screenplay or from Steve's journal. It's an eye-opening account of both the prison system and the courts. I'd recommend this book for both male and female teens in high school, though boys may like it better.

I rather enjoyed the way in which Myers writes the book in the form of a movie, complete with camera movements and descriptions of things. It makes the book feel like a tense courtroom drama. This book raises interesting questions concerning the ethics and believability of witnesses (especially those who are offered rewards in exchange for their testimony), biases and prejudice, police behavior and what should happen to avoid biases, guilt, justice, identity, and so on. I enjoyed those questions that the books read and it has got me thinking a lot about our understanding of guilt and the purpose of prisons.

Extremely embarrassing teen librarian confession incoming: I hadn't read Monster until now!

I know!

I had planned to read all of the winning Printz books that I hadn't already before being on the committee but I just . . . didn't.

Anyway, I needed to rectify this mistake and of course, this is brilliant. Walter Dean Myers (RIP) is such a giant in YA literature and deservedly so. The way the book is set up like a screenplay is incredible. You can see the movie in your mind the way Steve sees it. The way Steve's lawyer turns away from him at the end? Brutal and heartbreaking.

A classic that still holds up.

I LOVED the typography and how it played an essential role in the telling of the story. I loved that the kid made movies. I love that it is told in such a way that leaves the reader guessing as to the innocence of guilt of the main character and makes you just want to ask questions and talk to someone about it.

I could not put this down. Usually I hate courtroom dramas, but the novel is written in screenplay form (with some journal entries). I felt that added so much to the story. Steve Harmon is in a position I would not wish on my worst enemy. I was so engrossed in this I read it through in one sitting. Excellent. I will recommend it to my teens who love realistic fiction- this will be an eye opener to many.