I’m addicted to books. I like to order them on Amazon, download them to my Kindle, listen to them on Audible and borrow them from friends. On of my absolute favorite things to do is buy a stack of “real” books after browsing for hours in Barnes & Noble. I have many unread books on shelves in my home, in my Kindle library and even a few waiting for me to listen in my Audible cloud. Some may think this is wasteful but I fully intend to read all of them…. eventually.
I tell you this because I can’t even remember how or why I came to be in possession of Monster by Walter Dean Myers. I’m
guessing that I bought it hoping that I could convince one of my boys to read it. It has 3 giant award stickers on the cover and an Amazon rating of 4.3/5 stars. I picked it up last week, off of one of my dusty book shelves because I was craving the feel of a real book in my hands. The first line hooked me and I could barely put it down….“The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is screaming for help”.
It’s a great book. One that will have you pondering the ending and unsure of whether or not you really know if Steve is guilty or innocent. He’s a young teenager, from a good family but a bad neighborhood. He’s a great student with an aspiring film-making career ahead of him but he’s suddenly in jail, charged with murder. Steve tells the story as if it is a film script and alternates between the script with camera instructions and a personal journal. This writing style is very effective and I loved it.
It’s in the young adult genre but I recommend it for “old” adults and teenagers. It’s a good find for teenage boys and I hope I can convince mine to read it!
