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Monster
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Plot Summary of Monster
"This story is about a 16-year-old teenage black boy, Steve Harmon, who is caught up in a series of accused murder and robbery. He is accused of so because there were people that claimed that they saw him there at the scene of the crime. He battles to prove his innocence and battle the prosecution with sheer determination.

Steve also inserts entries of his diary into this novel, he talks about how tough his life is in prison and the kind of problems he has to face and endure. Through it all, he learns to survive and live each day as it comes in prison.

A bigger part of this novel is made into a courtroom drama, where the trial goes for the state to prosecute Steve for murder and Steve's defense lawyer who battles the prosecution and eliminates proof against Steve.
"

Xinrou Tan, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Monster
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 50%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - very upbeat
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Legal Thriller Yes
Legal Plotlets - finding out whether someone is really guilty

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - Black
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - a lawyer creature
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a lot
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - lawyer creatures
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
City? Yes
City: - dangerous
Misc setting - prison

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - mostly dialog
Most similar books to Monster
Diary of an Exploding Judge by M.A. Czarnecki
The Jury by Steve Martini
A King's Ransom by James Grippando
Murder One by William Bernhardt
Reckless Homicide by Ira Genberg


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Walter Dean Myers Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Xinrou Tan  

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