The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve's terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers's point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a "positive moral decision" was not made. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist's guilt or innocence. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner.
#Monster walter dean myers mla citation movie#
PLB 0-06-028078-6 In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty's Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day's action. Although descriptions of the robbery and prison life are realistic and not overly graphic, the subject matter is more appropriate for high-school-age than younger readers. The tense drama of the courtroom scenes will enthrall readers, but it is the thorny moral questions raised in Steve's journal that will endure in readers' memories. Script and journal together create a fascinating portrait of a terrified young man wrestling with his conscience. Myers' son Christopher provides the black-and-white photos, often cropped and digitally altered, that complement the text. The film script contains minimal jargon, explaining camera angles (CU, POV, etc.) when each term first appears. The handwritten font of the journal entries effectively uses boldface and different sizes of type to emphasize particular passages. An amateur filmmaker, Steve tells his story in a combination of film script and journal. Although it is clear that Steve did participate in the robbery, his level of involvement is questionable, leaving protagonist and reader to grapple with the question of his guilt.
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Steve Harmon is accused of acting as lookout for a robbery that left a victim dead if convicted, Steve could serve 25 years to life. Myers combines an innovative format, complex moral issues, and an intriguingly sympathetic but flawed protagonist in this cautionary tale of a 16-year-old on trial for felony murder.