Title: A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness
Story By: Siobhan Dowd
Illustrations By: Jim Kay
Series: None
Publisher: Walker Books
Publication Date: September 27, 2011
Genre: Supernatural; Contemporary; Young Adult
Pages: 215
Format: Hardcover
The monster showed up after midnight. As they
do.
But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...
This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.
But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...
This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.
“Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.”
Words to describe this book: Powerful; Haunting; Inspiring.
Phenomenal.
Inspired from an idea by Siobhan Dowd, Patrick Ness wrote A Monster Calls when Dowd died prematurely from cancer. Dowd was a Human Rights Campaigner for twenty years and wrote A Swift Pure Cry in 2006. Ness was previously known for his Chaos Walking trilogy.
Ness weaves a beautiful tale about death and life, truth and lies, and love and fear. Conor is haunted by a nightmare with a fearsome monster. When another monster comes walking, it is looking for the one thing Conor is sure never to give: the truth. This wonderfully woven tale about the effect of death on the living teaches us about how important our truths are. Laced with inspiring thoughts, memorable quotes, and extraordinary illustrations, this book is one worth reading over and over and over again.
“Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?”
I almost didn’t read this book. I am so glad that I did. While sadness and devastation are intermittently woven in the story, there is also hope and truth and love. As Conor was forced to confront his mysterious demons, I was enthralled cover to cover. The illustrations by Jim Kay were amazing and wondrous. A Monster Calls is the type of book that will continue to haunt me three books from now.
It is hard to put a book as powerful as this one into words. So I’ll just say this: if you don’t read another book this year, read this one. You won’t be disappointed.
“You do not write your life with words...You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”
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