1. MONSTER BOOKTALK By June Ambs Materials for Young Adults Professor Marc Aronson Spring - 2015

2. Monster, written by Walter Dean Myers, is a story about an African American teenage boy, Steve Harmon, who tells readers about his jail experience and his trial for the alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of a convenience-store owner in Harlem. The story is written in a screenplay format as Steve presents himself as being innocent, insisting that “he wasn’t even in the store that day, much less a co- conspirator” on the day of the crime (Sutton & Parravano, p. 294).

3. Morality Issues  The story serves as a timeline of Steve’s experience throughout the trial. In the novel, Steve’s goal is to be released from prison, even if he has to kill himself. He struggles with the moral aspects of his conduct and only mentions small details of the trial. Instead Steve describes his horrible prison experience, conveys his thoughts about events that occur there, and this allows the reader to empathize with him. In fact, the first line of his story states “the best time to cry is at night when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help” (Myers, p. 1)

4. Point of View  Walter Dean Myers ensures us that everything the reader learns about “is from Steve’s point of view” (Sutton& Parravano, p. 294). In fact, Steve’s screenplay includes a script, flashback scenes, directions for camera angles, and journal entries. Also included in the story are black-and-white photos provided by Myers’ son, Christopher, which adds to the reader’s experience.  In pouring though these entries, the reader plays judge and jury and must decide Steve’s level of involvement, if he participated in the robbery, and if he is guilty or innocent of murder.

5. Walter Dean Myers  Walter Dean Myers’ wrote that “Harlem is the first place called home that I can remember” and he writes for young adults and children about the “most difficult time in his own life – his teenage years” (Myers, p. 8). During his research for the book, Myers “frequently met with incarcerated teens in juvenile detention centers” and this enabled him to create the main character for the book (Walter Dean Myers, 2014). In addition, Myers "wanted the reader, given the facts of the case and having the benefit of Steve's inner thoughts, to reach their own decision” about Steve’s guilt or innocence (Myers, p. 8).

6. The Unreliable Narrator  Myers makes Steve into an unreliable narrator, as Steve wrestles with his conscience; and he comes to wonder “whether or not he has indeed become, through his questionable choices, a sort of Monster” (Overview, 2012).  Walter Dean Myers makes good use of the unreliable narrator in this novel, because the story leads readers to confront and question different versions of events that seem inconsistent throughout the story. By using the screenplay narration and journal entries in this story, Myers gives the story a first-person voice.

7. What makes a Empathy person a monster?  He presents Steve as being innocent which makes young readers empathize with Steve. Although the details of the convenience store robbery and prison life are realistic, “Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence” (“Monster,” 1999).  The story speaks profoundly to young readers, and they can connect and relate to Steve Harmon because he is an adolescent that gets caught up in violent circumstances of the urban neighborhood that he lives in. Steve ends the untitled prologue with an explanation that he decided to call his movie after what the prosecutor has called him – Monster, a word that haunts him (Myers, 2008).

8. Connecting with Young Adult Readers  Three of the books this week, Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Liar by Justine Larbalestier, and Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn, successfully portray the main characters to be unreliable narrators. All three books are told from the first-person perspective and readers are “encouraged to identify with the protagonists” (Sutton & Parravano, p. 294).

9. Liar by Justine Larbalestier - Layers of Deception  In the book Liar, Micah is a compulsive liar. Although readers want to believe that she is telling the truth about her involvement in her boyfriend’s death, about her parents locking her into a cage when she changes into a wolf, and whether or not she truly had a brother, it is difficult. She is an unreliable narrator – she never seems to tell the truth and holds back information like Steve from Monster. This makes her seem untrustworthy and the author keeps readers guessing throughout the book. Although the story is not written in the screenplay format like Monster, the narrative is broken into short sections titled as “Before, After, History of Me, and Family History,” and this helps readers to understand when the events occur in the story.

10. Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn - Layers of Dark Secrets  In the book Charm and Strange, it is difficult to believe in Win (formerly known as Drew), because he appears to be unstable, he hides his problems, and he also believes that he changes into a wolf each month. Because of its sexual content, the book might be more shocking to the reader than Monster and Liar. Although Win is not a liar like Micah is, he hides the truth about incest and what really happened to his brother and sister, and this makes him an unreliable narrator. At the same time, he appears to be protective of his friend, Jordan. This story is also split between what happened in the past “Before” and what happens in the present “After.”

11. Conclusion  In all three books, Monster, Liar, and Charm & Strange, the main characters, Steve, Micah, and Win, are unreliable narrators and struggle with serious issues, emotions, and their own versions of the truth.  All three stories have “directness, intensity,” and extremity which makes them believable to young adult readers (Aronson, p. 70). Readers will side with the characters in these three books and forgive them for their mistakes.

12. Discussion Questions  1. The story is written from Steve’s point of view (POV). How does this affect the way that the story is told? Do you think the story would have been different if it was written from an “objective” POV?  2. Does this book effectively capture the uncertainty of Steve’s innocence or guilt?  3. Do you believe that young adult readers will be able to connect to this book?  4. How did you think Steve compares to the characters from other YA unreliable narrator books that we read about this week?

13. Additional Resources  Biography:  “Meet the Author, Walter Dean Myers.” Houghton Mifflin Reading. Retrieved on January 30, 2015, from http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/wdmyers.html http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/wdmyers.html  Book Review:  Kirkus Book Review  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/walter-dean-myers/monster- myers/ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/walter-dean-myers/monster- myers/  Common Core:  This website lists the Common Core Strands in ELA-Literacy for Monster:  http://www.readcommoncore.com/book/paperback/monster/9780064407311 http://www.readcommoncore.com/book/paperback/monster/9780064407311

14. Interest and Reading Level: This website provides the Interest and Reading Level for Monster: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/monster#cart/cleanup Interviews: The author discusses Monster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtlkXnf3-vY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtlkXnf3-vY An interview with the author from PBS: http://video.pbs.org/video/2262568011/ http://video.pbs.org/video/2262568011/ A Reading Rockets video transcript from an interview with the author: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/myersw/transcript

15. Lesson Sets for Teachers: This website contains lesson sets for Monster: https://learnzillion.com/lessonsets/315-reading-literature-monster- set-1-of-2-realistic-fiction https://learnzillion.com/lessonsets/315-reading-literature-monster- set-1-of-2-realistic-fiction Obituary: The New York Times obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/arts/walter-dean-myers- childrens-author-dies-at-76.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/arts/walter-dean-myers- childrens-author-dies-at-76.html?_r=1 Personal Website: Walter Dean Myer’s personal website: http://walterdeanmyers.net/http://walterdeanmyers.net/

16. References Aronson, M. (2001). Exploding the myths. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc. Kuehn, S. (2013). Charm & Strange. New York: Saint Martin Griffin Books. Images courtesy of Amazon.com Larbalestier, J. (2009). Liar. New York: Bloombury USA Children’s Books. Monster. (1999, May 31). Kirkus Reviews, Retrieved on January 30, 2015, from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/walter-dean-myers/monster-myers/ Myers, W. D. (2008). Monster. New York: Harper Collins. Overview: Monster. (2012). In S. Constantakis (Ed.), Novels for Students (Vol. 40). Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE %7CH1430007647&v=2.1&u=new67449&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid= 570766f9701397ab8fcd469d1f1b77e5 Sutton, R., & Parravano, M. (2010). A family of readers: The book lover's guide to children's and young adult literature. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. Walter Dean Myers. (2014). Retrieved on January 31, 2015, from http://walterdeanmyers.net/