W.D. Myers (Monster)

Patricorp is world-renowned for doing things a little differently. For example, you may not be aware that Patricorp was the first company to put a shine on their ball bearings. So we respect Walter Dean Myers for what he's trying to do in Monster. Sure he's telling a story that's been told before, but he's doing it a little differently. The story of a teenager in trouble with the law is relatively familiar, but we at Patricorp are hard pressed to find an example of the story written as a screenplay by the protagonist before.

Frankly, we thought this was pretty cool. Pretty neat. Worthy of the Patricorp Neat Genre Stamp of Approval.

However, we didn't really enjoy the story. It confused us that the main character was on trial for Murder 1 when all he did was act as a lookout. It confused us that he thought he might be put to death. This all seemed pretty odd, and really got in the way of our enjoying the plot. We've been wrong before though (remember the Rainbow-Colored Widget Debacle of '62?) and maybe this is the case.

We liked that the protagonist was able to tell his own story (and if you think we like it here, wait 'til we revue The Hunger Games). We liked that he expressed emotion, and had trouble doing so. We just weren't crazy about the plot. Sorry WDM, but this is a sticking point for us.

However, we think this book could touch readers with a keener ability to suspend disbelief. Give it a try.