Book Review: The Beast

Myers, Walter Dean. The Beast. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2003

The Beast is a story that ties the past with the present. In the story, the main character Spoon leaves Harlem and the girl he loves to go away to college. He makes a life for himself at school with new friends and keeps up with his schoolwork to the best of his ability. He does not return home again until Christmas break. When he does he realizes things have changed, particularly with Gabi. She isn't the same girl he left behind, and he finds out that she has turned to drugs, and her mother is very sick. He does everything in his power to try and save her.

I really enjoyed this book because Spoon is such a positive African American character. I feel that he could be a really great role model for adolescents. He is driven and goal oriented when it seems like most of his friends have given up. He works hard at school, and has a loving family to support him. He comes home to find Gabi on drugs, her brother Rafe is with a gang, his best friend has dropped out of school, and the one girl everyone thought was the good girl is pregnant. Despite all of this change, Spoon makes it his mission to help Gabi and guide her out of the downward spiral she has hit. He does not fall to "the beast" like she did when things get hard. He rises above and turns out to be a hero. He does all of this because he truly cares about Gabi and won't allow her to give up on life the way she is.


For more information about Walter Dean Myers please visit:
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/myers.html