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.