“A monster.” That’s what the prosecutor called the main character in Walter Dean Myers’ book, Steve Harmon. Steve is a sixteen year old boy on trial for a murder that happened during a bank robbery. Throughout the book, the reader gets glimpses of Steve’s life both before and during the trial. Myers offers the reader insight into what Steve has gone through, and by the end, the reader has a good idea of what his life is like. The things Steve goes through are things that Myers himself and/or people he knew experienced, and while their lives are very different, it isn’t hard to see a decent amount of Myers in Steve. Myers was a remarkable author who, despite his troubled childhood, had a loving foster family who fueled his love of storytelling and reading from a young …show more content…
Harlem is filled with creative, talented people. It was a place Myers loved, and wanted to show in a positive light. Again, this ties in perfectly with Steve’s character. As mentioned before, Steve is in a film club that he’s very passionate about. During his trial, his film teacher, Mr. Sawicki, is called as a character witness. He describes Steve as an all-around outstanding person, but one thing he says is also linked to the way Myers viewed Harlem. He tells Steve’s attorney, Kathy O’Brien, that Steve is, “very much involved with depicting his neighborhood and environment in a positive manner.” (Myers, 235). Steve and Myers both love Harlem. Because of this, both of them want to depict the neighborhood in as positive a light as possible. They want to show how rich and talented the community is. Myers describes himself as, “a product of Harlem and of the values, color, toughness, and caring that I found there as a child.” (Myers, 11). He wants people to know that the neighborhood he grew up in made him the person he is today, and a pretty outstanding one at that. That’s why he depicts Harlem and the people behind it as well as he