Review by Lindsay, age 18

Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. It is a strange movie with no plot and no beginning... This is not a movie about bars and locked doors. It is about being alone when you are not really alone and about being scared all the time...

Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon has been accused of felony murder. As he sits on his cot in his jail cell or behind the defendant's table in the courtroom, he begins to see his experience as a movie. The proceedings of his trial are recorded daily -- in movie script format -- in his notebook.

At times, the screenplay seems so well-written that you really want to see the movie!

Steve firmly believes that he is innocent. However, he can see in the faces of those around him that even though they want Steve to be innocent, they are not so sure. His father and mother break down in tears as they talk with Steve in the prison visiting room. Steve constantly wishes that his life could be made normal again, and that he could once again be in the real world.

Walter Dean Myers takes on the persona of Steve Harmon to write this new novel, Monster. Maybe I could make my own movie. I could write it out and play it in my head... The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll write it down in the notebook they let me keep. I'll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. MONSTER. You actually read a movie script written by Steve, along with occasional notes from his journal. The unusual format is a welcome change and really gets you looking at the situation in a different way.

Walter Dean Myers successfully tugs at emotional heart strings as he animates Steve's passionate feelings.

Although occasionally difficult to follow, Myers usually provides details in the format of stage directions which clear up any confusion and help paint a mental image of the situation. At times, the screenplay seems so well-written that you really want to see the movie! You wonder why it came out in book form when it might make an even better movie.

My only complaint is that Monster ends with a somewhat predictable and anticlimactic conclusion. Although the ending is not quite as strong as the rest of the book, Myers still portrays it wonderfully in this unusual style.

Walter Dean Myers, as in his other novels, beautifully depicts life in New York City and a close-knit and loving African-American family. He successfully tugs at emotional heart strings as he animates Steve Harmon's passionate feelings about life. Monster is most certainly an enjoyable book to read and provides a refreshing change-of-pace from most other novels out there.

Published by HarperCollins
240 pages