A Study Guide for Walter Dean Myers's "Monster"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Walter Dean Myers's "Monster," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Jun 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535828796

Book preview

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Monster

Walter Dean Myers

1999

Introduction

Monster (1999), a young-adult novel about the courtroom trial experience of a sixteen-year-old African American, is one of many award-winning titles by the prolific author Walter Dean Myers. A promising crafter of stories from a very early age, Myers drifted out of school at sixteen and was left to forge a career from scratch without the benefit of a diploma. After tirelessly seeking the publication of his stories and poems in magazines through his twenties, he found his niche in turning first to children's books, then to young-adult literature. He would eventually demonstrate his talents in virtually every genre, including poetry, novel in verse, graphic novel, history, biography, and autobiography.

In Monster, the young Steve Harmon, a resident of Harlem—where Myers himself was raised—is on trial for participating in a felony murder committed during a drugstore holdup. Through Steve's journal entries, typeset in a handwritten style, and a screenplay he has written about his experiences in the courtroom and in jail, the reader feels the intensity of his fear and confusion. Illustrations by Myers's son Christopher add to the reader's experience. The narrative gradually leads the reader to confront the questions of morality and truth that Steve faces. The book does contain sketch descriptions of a murdered man and nondescriptive references to sexual assault in jail. Monster won the American Library Association's first Michael L. Printz Award for young-adult literature, was named a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Author Biography

Myers was born Walter Milton Myers on August 12, 1937, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, to George and Mary Green Myers. The family was large and poor, and tragically, when Walter was three, his mother died giving birth to her eighth child. Unable to raise the family on his own, George allowed Herbert and Florence Dean to become foster parents to Walter and two of his sisters. The children were taken to live with the Deans in Harlem.

Herbert Dean proved so mesmerizing a storyteller that Myers often feared meeting monsters and creatures Dean created in their apartment. Florence read aloud to him from True Romance magazine, and by age five he could read the newspaper to her. In school, Myers was ostracized because of his imperfect speech, and he often ended up in fights. For escape he turned to reading, especially comic books. After a fight in fifth grade, his teacher, Mrs. Conway, caught him reading a comic book and tore it up. Later she showed remorse for the action, as to make it up to him, she brought Myers a