Critical Review of Monster- African American Children's Literature

Staunton, John A. “Monster”. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. Newark: May 2002. Vol. 45, Iss.8; pg. 791.



There are many critical reviews on the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers focusing on violence in young adult literature. There was one in particular, that differed from the rest, which aided in critically analyzing Monster as a diverse literature. After reading this critical review by John Staunton, one will find that it is a very strong review which gives the reader a better insight of why and how Myer’s wrote Monster the way he did. Staunton has obviously read Myers past books and it was very beneficial to read about the other common themes and messages that are prevalent.

Staunton discusses that in his past memoir, Bad Boy, on the very first page Myers starts off "Each of us is born with a history already in place.... While we live our own individual lives, what has gone before us, our history always has some effect on us" (p. 1). After reading that quote about Myers past work it gave a lot of insight of how he wrote Monster. Staunton asserts that the “influence of history and culture upon individual identity is a common theme in Myers work.”

The theme that Staunton argued from Myers past books, brings up a very important question within multicultural literature that is not often focused on. How much does one’s history and culture really have an influence on individual identity? In Monster this is brought up in multiple ways and can have multiple interpretations. I am very curious to hear other people’s opinions and ideas!