Monster, by Walter Dean Myers

Sixteen year-old Steve Harmon is a young man who loves making films, and he’s actually starring in his latest production.  It’s the story of how he became involved in a robbery plot that went bad, and resulted in the death of an innocent shopkeeper.  Steve is now sitting in the courtroom, on trial and facing a possible life sentence.  The scariest part of Steve’s movie?  The story is all happening in real life.

One of the best things about this book is the creative format.  By presenting the story as a screenplay rather than as a traditional novel, we get a much better insight into how Steve views the world.  It’s almost as if the stress of being on trial for his life has caused Steve to step out of his body, and now he analyzes the proceedings with all the excitement of a dispassionate bystander. 

SPOILER:  Another thing that I appreciated was the fact that Mr. Myers never really told us whether or not Steve was truly innocent.  That was a very interesting plot device, since I found myself feeling sympathy for a young man who may very well have played a crucial role in this murder.  “Monster” is a highly-charged but thoughtful read, and I’d be very happy to recommend it.

The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis

Even though young Kenny calls his family “The Weird Watsons”, they seem to be a typical African-American family living in Flint, Michigan.  Kenny’s a middle child, surrounded by his big brother Byron and his little sister Joetta.  Byron tends to be a troublemaker, so his parents think it might do him some good to get out of the big city and spend a little time living with his grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama.  The family enjoys adjusting to a different pace of life down south, in a peaceful place where kids are free to go swimming outdoors or to hunt squirrels.  The kids are loving life in their new environment, at least until the peace and quiet is shattered one Sunday morning when the children get an up-close reminder that not everyone in Alabama supports the civil rights movement.

Some readers might complain that this book takes a while to get going, and that may be a valid argument.  After all, it’s not until halfway through the book when the Watsons actually leave home on their trip to Birmingham!  I didn’t mind the pacing at all, though, since I really enjoyed the chance to get acquainted with the Watson children.  At some points I was laughing out loud, and it almost felt like I was sharing their living room with them!   To be honest, I think that Mr. Curtis probably structured his book this way on purpose.  By allowing us to spend so much time with the Watsons up front, he lets us identify more closely with the real people whose lives were impacted by the violence of 1963.  Without this type of character development, the real people who were injured or killed during the civil rights struggle might be in danger of being overlooked.  If our generation didn’t know their stories, these people might be seen as nothing more than names in a history book.  By reading Mr. Curtis’ book, we’re able to understand that these victims were real people who left behind families when they died.

I was completely thrilled by the two books of Mr. Curtis’ that I’ve read so far, and I’m going to do my best to read everything that he puts out.  If you’re looking to take a closer look at some of the most important periods in American history, then you’re more than welcome to join me!

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

This story is about Bud Caldwell, a twelve-year old orphan who runs away from his most recent foster family.  Bud travels across his home state of Michigan during the Great Depression in a search for his long-lost family.   He meets a musician who he thinks might be his father, and falls in with the man’s traveling band.  Out on the road, Bud has time to explore his family tree, and discover how little he actually knows about his roots.

This book has not only has an amazing plot, but it also has one of the most interesting settings.  Our lives today are so comfortable that it’s very easy to forget about how things were just a few generations ago.  Mr. Curtis does an excellent job of describing life during the Depression, especially the “Hoovervilles” and the conflicts between labor organizers and security men.  I can’t imagine a life where I didn’t know where I was heading next, or where my next meal was coming from.

My favorite part of this book was actually the author’s notes at the end, where Mr. Curtis wrote about how his own family influenced the story.  His relatives were the inspiration for two of the main characters, and their stories undoubtedly helped him produce such a realistic description of the era.  Mr. Curtis suggested that readers should take the time to listen to their own family members, in order to get a first-person account of history.

What do you think about his advice?  What do you know about how your parents or your grandparents grew up?  Is there anything that you don’t know about them, but might like to learn?