Rating: 
Summary: 6-6: Critiquing a Novel
Review: The plot is very clear and is very believable. The story does not start to soon giving just enough information to the reader to understand what is happening, but all at the same time causing suspense for the reader. In the beginning of "Monster", the author begins with a journal entry from the main character, Steve, which gives the reader background information needed. This gives the author a chance to tell you what is going on in the story. The journal entry only gave you information the author wanted you to have, putting the reader already in the main characters shoes. By doing it this way, the author created a sense of suspense for the reader. The reader is now interested in the story and continues to read it. The subplots in the story move the story, which also builds suspense, maintaining the readers attention. The author unfolds important information through the course of the book, causing the reading reader to change their mind on what is going to happen in the end. It was good that the author gave pieces of the main characters background through the book because this was also a suspense builder. Characters in the story agree with both the setting and the actions of people at that time. It is consistent. The characters does not promote a stereotype, it is real, especially in the part of urban neighborhoods the characters live in, the dialogue, everything. To give more information, the author would momentarily give other characters point-of-views only to separate the main character from the other characters. This would defeat that stereotype most people would already have coming into the story. The story moves at a great speed, I feel, for both fast and slow readers. The fact the story caused the reader to be anxious about what the outcome would be, they wanted the story to end quickly. Eventually the story ended with the main character, Steve, living with the outcome of the conflict.
Rating: 
Summary: Monster
Review: In the beginning, the book made no sense, but when you get towards the middle, you begin to understand. You also begin to understand the plot more and develop more and deeper thoughts and angles to the story. The plot is believable, but the story started earlier than it should have started. There is a respectable amount of information, but it should have more, because I didnt really get some of it, but we do have enough backgorund to understand what is going on. THe main cahracter resolves his conflict.
The story kinda gets boring from time to time. Sometimes you just want to skip some parts, but some are exciting (like the last 5 pages) The story moves well. It matches the pacing of a real life court trial because court books are supposed to have some boring parts that do make sense and that do relate to the story.
The story doesn't transport you to the time and place, it doesnt make you "part of the story" when it is happening. The characters and settings relate to the time setting. THe order of events are consistent throughout the story.
THe characters seem real, the character's actions are consistent, and their personality are shown well.
The language and what they say match the time frame of the story. t doesnt have too much profanity or too much heavy accents; there is nothing wrong with the dialogue. Each character can be related to people in real life. The dialogue is made for the character's personality.
BUt overall, I recommend this book
Rating: 
Summary: Monster Review
Review: The story is like a puzzle, you need to continue to read the book to put the pieces together about the crime. None of the information is given to you directly, you never know the full story until the end. It has true, believable characters and a setting that changes throughout the book. Each scene is described because it is a movie script. It tends to jump around and you need to read the descriptions to figure out where you are. Overall, I really enjoyed the way the story was written, very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Fast read, good book
Review: I found Monster a very intriguing read. It is about a sixteen-year-old African-American boy, named Steve, on trial for felony murder. Steve keeps track of his time spent in jail and on trial by writing a script for a movie. Through the script and Steve's personal journal entries, you watch the story unfold. Because of the movie script format and the events in the book, this is a very fast read that keeps you enthralled until the very last page - and you'll definitely be thinking about the ending!This book is very well written. The characters all have their own specific personalities that they don't stray from. Their speech patterns and actions describe them more thoroughly as well. When reading this book, the beginning was a bit confusing because Myers gave you very little to go on, but by withholding information, he allowed you to make up your own mind about the case. Aside from that, the only downside of this book is that unless you do some sort of character activity, it's very hard to keep the characters straight. All you get is their last name and what they say in the script, so you really need to be paying attention when the characters are first described because that's just about all they are. Aside from some confusion on the characters, this book is very good. Its plot is very clear and you learn about the settings through actions, not descriptions. Everything fit the time frame of present day. By switching between the movie script and Steve's journal entries, you get both Steve's emotions and hard facts. While it sounds like it would be confusing, it really isn't because the formatting changes with each switch (a typed appearance for the script and handwriting for the journal entries). The ending is very good and I consider it a proper ending - not one just written up to end the story. While it leaves you with some questions, that makes the book very powerful. Overall, this book is well written and a fast read.
Rating:
Summary: Monster
Review: Monster is an interesting book. It is the story of a boy on trial for felony murder. The plot is interesting, the characters aren't stereotypical, the pacing is good, and the dialoge is great - the characters come alive through their voices. There aren't a whole lot of setting details, but you really just need to know that it is a courthouse or a jail, other than that it doesn't play much of a part.
Rating:
Summary: Fast Read and a very good book!!
Review: This was a very well put together book! This book has this certain type of edge that will make you never want to put it down. I loved the layout this book was in. It made it seem like the book flew by. This story is basically about a guy who tells his story about what it's like in prison, and what he has to go thorugh. The way this book was set up, it made it a very fast and easy read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fast read books.
Rating:
Summary: Monster
Review: This is a book about a teenager named Steve Harmon who is thin and brown skinned. As he sits in jail with his head in his hands with a suit and tie he has to put on to go to court. He has to go to court because he was in involved with a drug store robber where the owner got shot and killed. There were two other people that were involved and they were James King and Richard Evans. Richard Evans said that he was involved with the robbery but he did not shoot Mr. Nesbitt the drug store owner. He said that James king shoot him and that Steve Harmon was there inside guy. Was Steve really guilty or was James really guilty.
The genre of this book is fiction. I would recommend this book to someone that like reading trail type stories or one who like a little mystery. Or someone who like to read a movie script. Because that is how this one is written. I like how the other did that because I guess I'm one of those people that like to know before you start reading who is talking. This book will make you to not stop reading it is so good. The author did not use too many big of confusing words, and if he did he said what they meant right after. I would read other books by Walter Dean Myers.
Rating:
Summary: Monster, a book for everyone
Review: Monster is a book about a boy who is convicted of a crime. The boy believes and tries to convince everyone that he is innocent, but even his lawyer is in doubt. Walter Dean Myers leaves the reader to decide whether the boy is innocent or not. Steve, the boy convicted of murder, has the hobby of writing movie scripts, and there isnt a better movie to write than his own sad life, but yet exciting and suspenseful life. The reader is learning about his life similar to the way the watchers of his movies would be. This book is recommended to anyone who enjoys reading at all and esspecially those who need a break because this book is easy and fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: Gang Wars
Review: "Monster" is a good book is based on a true story about a LA gang member convicted of a murder he didn't commit. He went to jail and went through a rough time. The author Walter Dean Myers explains every last detail of the cell and the food. The book is just down right good! I recommend this book to people that like gang related books.
Rating:
Summary: How One Boy's Life Changes In Jail
Review: "Monster" is a great read if you like drama books.Walter Myers talks about how reality is in jail.The kid they call "Monster" gets accused of murder and stealing. While he's in jail, he writes a movie about his life in jail.In order to read this book and understand it well, you should know a little about gangs.The book is really for kids 13 and over because you would be able to understand everything going on in the book.The book takes place in the court room and jail cell.Though being in jail, Steve makes it through all the rough times.I rate this book 5 stars.
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