When you are a kid you rely on your parents most of the time. The hardest thing as a kid is not having one or both of your parents backing you up, or them not believing you. Some things you do make it hard for your parents to believe you. The worst thing you can do is lose your parents trust in your life, but you can earn it back with a long time of obeying your parents and telling the truth all the time.

   In the book Monster, Steve is on trial and in jail for murdering a drugstore owner. His parents have been visiting him every day while he is in jail. One day they all come to visit Steve like normal, but his dad isn't there.  Why is this the one day Steve’s dad isn't there to see him? Will his dad be back the next day? Why has Steve's dad decided not to come? Was there a fight at home and he decided not to come because of that? Could the fight have been about Steve? Those are all questions that Steve had been thinking before his mother explains to him why his father isn't coming see him today… and possibly not for a long time. Steve is very disappointed that he won't see his father for a while.

     This book is not based on a true story but all of it could definitely be true. This accusation, this trial, this question of innocent or guilty all happens in the real world. I have found some articles relating to themes that I have been seeing throughout this book. In the real world, many times someone gets accused of something they didn't do, but they just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

    My worst fear as a kid and student is to get in big trouble for something I didn't do and not have my parents backing me up on whatever I was accused of. I have had some of my friends get in trouble and one of their parents got enraged at their kid for something they didn't do, but it was actually the person they hanging out with. The kid whose house they were staying at would always get the blame like it was their fault the whole time, when it was really another kid. That is exactly what happened to Steve. He was accused of murdering a drug store owner because he was there at the crime scene.

    Luckily, there was a lady who was at the store when the murder happened, who saw James King (the real killer) and she told the police the truth, so that Steve was found not guilty. James also said Steve was part of the robbery too. Steve would never have got into all of this trouble if he had not been in his neighborhood trying to find a film location at the same time that James King and Richard Evans had been planning the robbery. They asked if Steve wanted to join them. Steve said no at first, but they kept taunting him until he gave in.

    Most kids say being a kid is hard work, but only sometimes that is true. Being a kid is a true privilege, all of that can turn around in a finger snap. One bad choice can lead to another bad choice and then Boom! all of your freedom could be lost. You have to be cautious about the choices that you make in your life. Your life is the one thing that you can never get back.