Monster

by Walter Dean Myers
YAFic Myer

Monster is one of the more popular young adult of the last decade after winning the Michael L Printz Award and was named a Coretta Scott King Award Honor book. It is as well known for its realistic subject matter as its unconventional format. The book is split up into sections of part screenplay and part diary all written by the main character Steve Harmon.

Steve Harmon is a young African American teenager who has grown up in Harlem and now finds himself on trial for the charge felony murder. To help himself understand how he got to be in this situation he decides to write a screenplay about all that goes on as it really happened. After the beginning introduction introduces this, the credits roll and the rest of the book is in the form of an actual screenplay with cuts and cues and everything. I didn't find this all that difficult to read as I mostly skimmed over it and just concentrated on who was speaking and what was being said. Diary like voice overs are interspersed in the screenplay of Steve speaking about what his inward feelings and thoughts.

Other than the format of the book, which I didn't find that strange, the other strange thing is that Steve Harmon didn't actually kill anyone. He may or may not have been involved in a robbery that resulted in the death of the owner of the store they were robbing. Steve's alleged part in this robbery was that of a lookout. He allegedly went into the store to see if any cops or other people were in it that would give the actual two robbers any trouble. Once I learned this it changed my perspective of the book from how a young man feels to be on trial for murder to how a young man can make the kind of decisions to end up in this situation. This becomes more unclear as the story goes on since Steve is the one writing the screenplay and as the trial develops Steve starts rationalizing his part in the robbery to the point of not having actually been there at all.

The book is a fast read and you are genuinely invested in the verdict by the end. With a strong message of how the simplest of decisions can snowball into drastic repercussions and how they having a lasting effect on you and those around you.

Locke & Key

Written by Joe Hill

Illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez

YAFic Hill

Locke & Key is a horror comic released by IDW in monthly issues and bound together in trade hardbacks. There are currently three volumes out now with the fourth being planned for July. There is suppose to be a total of six volumes by the end. The story evolves around the Locke family who have moved back to the family estate, Keyhouse, after a horrible tragedy befalls them. Keyhouse, on Lovecraft Island, is not a normal house. There are many keys to be found within the estate and each key has a specific special power, but since this is a horror comic there is also a sinister "spirit" trying to get the keys especially one key in particular to unleash the big bad that the house has captured. That is the initial setup, but there is more that I just wouldn't want to spoil.

I had tried getting into this series a few times because I had heard several times how great it is, but my first attempts weren't successful. Neither the art not the story telling really grabbed me. I would highly recommend choosing to atleast start out reading this series with the first trade Welcome to Lovecraft. Reading several issues in one go helps you get a feel for the story's pacing.

I may not be totally in love with the artwork here but I do really dig the use of perspective. A comic book will move the eye as it should which Gabriel Rodriguez does but he also moves your eye to the reveals. Throughout the series the reader is more aware of everything that is going on than the characters which is done by the careful dialouge of Joe Hill's and the small tellings that are included in the panels without sacrificing the pacing of the story. I hope you can check out all the volumes out together or put them on hold because this one addictive story that will have you sweating to get a hold of the next one.