Meyers, Walter Dean, (1999). Monster. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN:0060280778. 281 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: This novel is primarily written as a screenplay, with some shorter journal entries interspersed. Steve Harmon is a black 16 year old on trial for felony murder. He's also in the film club at his school, Stuyvesant. He's the one writing the screenplay. Through flashback scenes and scenes of others' testimony, the reader gets a glimpse into Steve's world and his situation. Is he guilty? Is he innocent? What has he learned during this trial?

Meyers does a lovely job creating a character who wants to be liked and loves to observe. At times this created distance makes you wonder how much of the whole experience Steve is internalizing. The journal entries help maintain a personal sympathy for the character. Because of these, I think this story might not translate well into a screenplay. While it is couched in this screenplay it is most immediately a novel. Meyers also sets up a community, and makes Steve's environment almost characters themselves. There is the character of his neighborhood and the character of the detention center where he is being housed.

As a reader, I was quick to sympathize with Steve, but it was also easy to see that his "screenplay" still omitted facts and elements that fully completed the story. Meyers alludes to this reliability question on p. 214 when Steve inserts a quick scene of his film teacher Sawicki giving advice. Sawicki says "When you see a filmmaker getting to fancy, you can bet he's worried either about his story or about his ability to tell it."

The novel raises large questions about fitting in, morality and the current justice system. I can easily see how a class could work as the jury in this case after the closing arguments. The book also raises some difficult questions about risk taking and rights. In the end, the jury does come to a verdict and another discussion could follow the jury's actual decision. Was it the right one?

Booktalk: Because this book is written as a screenplay, a possible book talk could use class students to read certain characters during a certain scene of the book--perhaps during Bobo's testimony. Or you could read the opening (or possibly the closing) arguments of one of the lawyers.