Monster

by Walter Dean Myers

Steve is sixteen-years old and on trial for felony murder. He is accused to being an accomplice to a robbery of a drug store in which the store owner was killed, but he says he didn’t do it, that he is not guilty.

Steve says he feels like his life is a movie. The novel is written in screenplay format, with Steve’s journal entries in which he explains his thoughts and fears while in jail are inserted throughout the novel. He faces 20 years minimum jail time if convicted.  The screenplay format of the story works well for the story as it allows the reader to easily visualize the plot. 

I felt great empathy for Steve’s parents and ambiguous about Steve throughout the novel. How much he was actually involved in the crime and his guilt or innocence is really meant to be determined by the reader. I found myself wanting a positive outcome for Steve to save his family heartbreak even though I thought he was probably guilty. I would definitely recommend this book to teens because I think it offers a powerful lesson about how fast life could change with one bad choice.