Drama; Coming-of-Age; Young Adult Literature
Young Adult Literature
Is our main character a teenager? Check.
Is our main character trying to sort things out for himself? Check.
Does our main character feel different from those around him? Check.
It's official: Monster has all the trappings of a young adult novel.
Drama and Coming-of-Age
Half of this novel is a screenplay, which is about as dramatic as you can get, so we're going to go ahead and put a giant check in the drama column. Most of the screenplay in this book involves dialogue—courtroom dialogue, neighborhood dialogue, family dialogue—and when we're not reading dialogue, we're reading action—the everyday sort about putting heads in hands, wiping hands on towels, etc. To be clear, by drama we don't mean lunchroom gossip—nope, we're talking about something written that is supposed to be performed.
Monster is also a coming-of-age book, with Steve's screenplay and journal working together to map his transformation. The screenplay tells most of Steve's story—detailing his past (including his neighborhood relationships and film class experiences) and the trial proceedings. His journal supplements the screenplay's narrative by giving us a sense of Steve's struggle, of the fear and loneliness he is grappling with, and his complicated feelings toward his family. Solidifying once and for all that Monster is a coming of age novel is the fact that when the trial ends, Steve is a different person from the kid he was before the fateful afternoon when the cops showed up at his home.