#tbt: Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Monster by Walter Dean Myers. 288p. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999. 9780060280772. (Own.)

#tbt features Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Monster was published in 1999 and is a story told partly as a diary and partly in screenplay format. It was a National Book Award Finalist in 1999, was given a Coretta Scott King Author Honor and won the very first Printz Award in 2000. 

Steve Harmon is on trial for felony murder in a robbery that went bad. While he was coerced into participating in the robbery, he did not pull the trigger. Myers explores themes of peer pressure, race and justice in this short, riveting docudrama. Fun Fact: the cover was illustrated by his son, Christopher, who often collaborated with his father along with writing and illustrating his own books.