Monster by Walter Dean Myers
	List Price:   $8.99 Unit Price:   $7.19 You Save:   $1.80 (20%) ISBN-10:   0064407314 ISBN-13:   9780064407311 Publisher:   HarperCollins; Amistad Edition:   Reprint, illustrated Category:   Young Adults Pub. Date:   May 2001 Pages:   304 Format:   Paperback
Awards
1999  National Book Awards (USA)  Nominee/Honoree  1999  Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year (USA)  Winner!  2000  Edgar Awards (Edgar Allan Poe Awards) (USA)  Nominee/Honoree  2000  Michael L. Printz Award (USA)  Winner!  1999  Los Angeles Times Book Prizes (USA)  Nominee/Honoree
Subjects
CHILDREN'S FICTION PRISONS_FICTION AFRO-AMERICANS_FICTION SELF-PERCEPTION_FICTION TRIALS_FICTION MURDER_FICTION
Description/Notes
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken. STEVE HARMON'S BLACK. HE'S IN JAIL, MAYBE FOREVER. HE'S ON TRIAL FOR MURDER. AND HE'S SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. 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. 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 who is the prosecutor called me. MONSTER. FADE IN: INTERIOR COURT. A guard sits at a desk behind Steve. Kathy O'Brien, Steve's lawyer, is all business as she talks to Steve. O'BRIEN Let me make sure you understand what's going on. Both you and this king character are on trial for felony murder. Felony Murder is as serious as it gets. . . . When you're in court, you sit there and pay attetion. You let the jury know that you think the case is a serious as they do. . . . STEVE You think we're going to win ? O'BRIEN (seriously) It probably depends on what you mean by 'win.' Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout. Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of 'the system,' cluttered with cynical authority figures and unscrupulous inmates, who will turn in anyone to shorten their own sentences. For the first time, Steve is forced to think about who he is as he faces prison, where he may spend all the tomorrows of his life. As a way of coping with the horrific events that entangle him, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, decides to transcribe his trial into a script, just like in the movies. He writes it all down, scene by scene, the story of how his whole life was turned around in an instant. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred and his vision obscured until he can no longer tell who he is or what is the truth. This compelling novel is Walter Dean Myers's writing at its best. 2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2000 Michael L. Printz Award, 1999 National Book Award Finalist, 01 Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Lit Finalist, 00-01 Tayshas High School Reading List, and 00-01 Black-Eyed Susan Award Masterlist 2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), Hornbook Fanfare 2000, Michael L. Printz Award 2000, 2000 Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor Book, 2000 Quick Picks for Young Adults (Recomm. Books for Reluctant Young Readers), and 2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA) Walter Dean Myers is an award-winning writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people. He has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his contribution to young adult literature and is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. His many titles include Bad Boy: A Memoir; Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins; the Caldecott Honor Book Harlem, illustrated by Christopher Myers; and the Newbery Honor Books Scorpions and Somewhere in the Darkness. Walter Dean Myers lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his family. Christopher Myers is a graduate of Brown University and has completed the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program. This third collaboration with his father follows their Caldecott Honor Book, Harlem. Christopher Myers lives in New York City. 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. Young, black, 16-year-old Steve Harmon, an amateur filmmaker, is on trial for the murder of a Harlem drugstore owner. Steve copes by writing a movie script based on his trial. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred until he can no longer tell who he is or what the truth is. Illustrations.