Monster 4

Monster

What led me to choose this book was the author. I have always liked Walter Dean Myers’ books because they usually have a good plot to them. Another reason is that it received three awards which included the National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award and the Michael L. Printz Award. I was drawn to this book because of the title; it made me wonder why this kid on the cover would be called such a terrible word. I saw a small connection between me and the book because my mother teaches in the inner city of Cincinnati, and she has taught a lot of kids that have gotten into trouble with the law at a young age just like Steve did. I would recommend this book to both teenagers and adults. If you like law and courtroom drama then this would probably be a good exciting book to read. I would also recommend this book to people who think that just because someone is from a bad neighborhood that they are probably a bad person. This book might be good for them because it would give them a fresh outlook on people from the inner city and specifically of African-American decent.  This book was interesting from the beginning to the end.

Monster 3

Monster

Part of the book that is intended on “hooking” the attention of the reader is the first journal entry that Steve had written. The book starts out with this paragraph: “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.” This grabs your attention because you are curious to know where people are being beaten in the night.  You also want to know why Steve must live in such a place. The book continues to hook the reading in the next part when it says: “There is a mirror over the steel sink in my cell.” This makes you wonder what he could have done to deserve to be in jail. Raising more questions like how long has he been in or how many more years will he have to stay in prison. Another sentence that caught my attention and made me want to continue reading was: “When I look into the small rectangle, I see a face looking back at me but I don’t recognize it.” This is referencing his change from the time he was put into his cell from his normal life, as if he is a different person now that he is in jail. All of the parts of this first page raise questions for the reader that will only be answered by reading through the book. This makes it a great hook to get the reader to finish the book and listen to the story of Steve Harmon.    

Monster 2

Steve Harmon is the main character of my book Monster he only wants to go home and live his life normally. He really only wants the one thing. He really wants this because he still is a child and lives with his parents and really has a better life at home, whereas some inmates have no shelter, food, or job outside of prison. Some of the themes that are starting to arise are the association of prisoners. Some of the things that Steve’s lawyer said really seemed to ring true during the hearing. For example at the beginning of the trial Steve looked over at some of the jurors and smiled, but instead of returning the smile they quickly looked away. They seemed to be scared or disgusted by him as if he wasn't human. That mindset is actually contradicting that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. The opposite seems to be true with this case. The way that the book is set up and structured is like a movie script. There are also some journal entries that have been written by Steve that have been included throughout the book. It also includes some camera angles and scene descriptions. It is written like this because Steve wants to turn his story into a movie that can be related to and set an example for people going through hard times.

Monster

Monster by Walter Dean Myers is about the conviction Steve Harmon. He is a 16 year old African-American boy living in Manhattan. Steve is in the Manhattan Detention Center for aiding and abetting a robbery of a local liquor store. The problem is that he was wrongfully convicted, and nobody will believe his side of the story. He claims that he was an innocent bystander who walked in looked around the store and left. However the cops believe by the surveillance tapes that he went in and made sure there were no police officers or security inside, so the robbery would smoothly. The police also received word from another prisoner that all three were acquaintances and were working together.  The three boys, Steve Harmon, James King, and “Bobo” Evans have been taken in to custody and have a court date. I believe that the court hearing will not work against Steve, but will not have any proof to vindicate him. This book relates to the television show Psych where more often than not the obvious perpetrators are wrongfully convicted for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It also relates to society in that the black population is more associated with crimes because of the lingering prejudice from before civil rights movements. This makes it so people automatically associate them with crime and poverty.

I recently finished a book called holes. It is about a boy that moves around a lot and is now in Florida where he doesn't have many friends and he stumbles onto a construction site that wants to level an area where there happens to be a owl hole. He wants to save the owls but he doesn't know how to do it. He then meets a girl on the soccer team that also likes to save wildlife and they are planning to stop the operation. Eventually they get evidence of the owls are living there and they start to get people to raise awareness and eventually form a resistance. I thought it was a good book to read when your bored but it's not a high level book.

Eragon, with his new found energy is actually starting to keep up to some of the other elves. He also seems to be developing sharper more defined characteristics. With his new elven look he seems to think that this will change the mind of his crush. Sadly for him this is not the case. Saphira was rewarded with the old armor of Glaedr.

 

 Saphira has grown considerably and has still a long way to go, for Glaedr is almost twice as large and can speak to his rider fluently and can finish each others thoughts. Saphira and Eragon can speak to each other but still cannot know what the other is thinking without them coming out and saying it. This is a crucial attribute to have in war because they become one. For example id Galbatorix thinks they need to turn left Glaedr automatically does so. This will be a connection that only comes with time. Saphira and Eragon have been together for but three years. Whereas Galbatorix has been with Glaedr for more than two hundred years.  

Eragon is still training with the elves in the forest and is not making much progress. He also is developing feelings for a pretty female elf in which she does not have a mutual connection. He is now being invited to a special elven ceremony that celebrates dragon riders and is known to give riders more strength and magical powers. Eragon and Saphira then arrive at the ceremony and are surrounded by hundreds of elves and he is soon joined by the older dragon rider Galbatorix and his dragon Glaedr.

The ceremony begins and Saphira and Glaedr begin to do their dance. The festivities continue until at the end of the night when the dragons cast  a spell on Eragon. Before that point he had no idea the effects of the spell. He actually admits later that he would have had Galbatorix take his spot, given he is the oldest rider in existence and is well over 200 years old. The next morning eragon wakes up to find that his face is slightly slimmer and more defined as if he was becoming more of an elf. He also felt very much more energetic.