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.
Continuing on my journey of the 15 Young Adult Books Every Adult Should Read, I read Monster by Walter Dean Myers.
Well, this book was basically a TV show written as a book. Literally the format was a script for a show or play and some journal entries from the main character. I really did not enjoy the formatting. It was hard to follow and decidedly uninteresting. Writing the book like that did nothing for the story; it made it more clinical rather than heartfelt. I did feel for the main character but not as much as I could have. The other problem with this format was you really didn’t get a sense of who the characters are. You got no real explanation of their looks, personalities or back stories. When an actor is given a script it is there job to bring the character to life. But when you are reading a script there is nobody there to bring the characters to life. You have to use your imagination and own experiences to interject to the character. That is especially difficult for me as I am not from Harlem, Male, 16, Black, and have never been to jail. So you can see why I would have a difficult time bringing this story to life.
I do think the book was really realistic to real life, from the descriptions of the jail to the boring opening and closing arguments for the trial. I will fully admit to skipping to the end to see if he was found guilty or innocent. But I am like that, and the author doesn’t disclose that right away. I am not totally sure what the main point of this book is supposed to be? Is the author trying to warn teens to be weary of whom they associate with or they might be accused of murder? Or the plight of Black Americans in the justice system? I don’t know. There are better books that have better examples of that (trust me, I majored in Sociology with an emphasis on Minority and Gender Studies). I don’t want to indicate that the book is trash. It was ok. But I wouldn’t recommend this book for young adults to read. It wasn’t enthralling, gripping, heartfelt, or even educational. If you like crime dramas I’m sure you would like this book. But if you’re not that into law and order books/shows then pass on this one.
1.0 Bard
Moving! 