This is a good book- I learned some things about the gang life and the gang he was in. I read this awhile ago so I can't remember everything but I did like his message. He was a lot like Tookie Williams in that he didn't glorify the gang life and killing.
The only thing I remember not really liking is some of the terminolgy he used. For some reason these gangsters seem to think it's okay to use military terms and it's just not. Don't call someone in your gang a five star general please. He's a gangster. Not a general. That was tough to swallow but if you can overlook that it's a good book.

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I wanted to try and learn why anyone would want to join a gang. From Monster's point of view, he saw it as becoming something big, maybe like a rite of passage and he joined when he was 11. Eventually, after years in prison, Monster comes to realize that he was actually doing harm to his family, friends, neighborhood and race. It saddened me that it took him so much tragedy and time to figure this out. Once he sat down and learned to read and began reading and became educated, his outlook into life took a turn for the better. This book is an eye opener into the mind of a youth looking to belong to something; I only wish all this energy was put into something positive in their neighborhood. I came from a gang area, growing up in projects. You have to believe that there is more out there and work toward that , getting out of the projects or bad neighborhoods. Education is the primary way to advance in life. Drugs, guns, sex, gangs and all that material stuff won't make you happy, just dead.

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