This story touches on the very real life of urban youth and their struggles to be a “good kid” surrounded by others tempting them to take the easy way out to be a cool kid and make a few easy bucks. By staying focused on Steve’s retelling of the courtroom drama through his screenplay we are not distracted by unnecessary descriptions of the jury, judge or extraneous characters that may have bogged down the tempo of the story-telling. Myers has done an exemplary job of creating the voice of a scared, confused and often judgment impaired sixteen year old boy. Steve maintains his innocence but then admits he wanted to be cool like Bobo and King (p.
#REVDL GANGSTAR VEGAS FULL#
The reader certainly feels a great deal of sympathy for Steve from the very first line of the book when Steve writes in his journal: “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.” But the reader doesn’t ever feel like she is getting the full story from Steve when he writes in his journal, “I thought about writing about happened in the drugstore, but I’d rather not have it in my mind.” (p. Myers keeps the reader in suspense throughout the book because the first-person narration by its very creates a possibly unreliable narrator. Myers portrays Steve’s ambivalence and deep emotions through a variety of means in his journal narration and screenplay flashback scenes.
#REVDL GANGSTAR VEGAS MOVIE#
This style is extremely successful for a young adult reader as it propels the story quickly and the movie format is one with which young adults quickly can connect and comprehend. Myers takes a unique approach in Monster by combining a first-person narrative told through a screenplay with personal journal notations presented in a handwritten style typeface.
#REVDL GANGSTAR VEGAS TRIAL#
As the trial proceeds Steve shares his inner turmoil about the decisions he has made leading up to the robbery and his terror anticipating a possible life sentence. Other characters include Richard “Bobo” Evans who has taken a plea deal from the district attorney in exchange for his testimony and the dedicated public defender Kathy O’Brien. Steve’s neighborhood acquaintance James King is on trial with him but defended by a separate attorney.
Steve maintains his innocence but through flashbacks in the screenplay we learn that his innocence may be somewhat ambiguous.
The setting is Harlem, present day and told in first person by Steve who copes with the stress of the trial by writing the events of the trial as a screenplay. Sixteen year old Steve Harmon is on trial for a murder committed during a neighborhood store robbery. I wanted this collection to represent a variety of genres and styles and Monster succeeds on these levels beautifully. Monster was selected for this collection because it is one of the most acclaimed YA books of the past 20 years.
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