A Monster Calls

by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

 

The monster showed up just 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.

In a unique pairing of Carnegie Medal winners, Patrick Ness spins an extraordinarily moving tale of love, loss and hope from the final idea of Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. This moving novel is brought to life with extraordinary award-winning illustrations from Jim Kay, which add an extra dimension to the story.

What are the key themes? The key themes running through the book are family, death, truth, suffering, isolation and coming to terms with loss.

Book Review 'Pearson's New Windmills collection brings together an incredible range of titles that teachers can trust, ideal for KS3, GCSE and beyond. From October 2014, Patrick Ness' extraordinarily powerful novel about a teenager struggling to deal with his mother's terminal illness will be added to the list; along with teacher support materials underpinned by the University of Exeter's Grammar for Writing pedagogy, and back of book comprehension activities.

Based on an original idea by the author Siobhan Dowd, who died before she could write the story, A Monster Calls is bleakly beautiful, unflinchingly honest and utterly compelling. A tumbling, ragged storm of intense, chaotic emotions is masterfully contained within Ness' unflinching prose, and Jim Kay's illustration are hauntingly atmospheric. Short chapters and contemporary language help to ensure the text is accessible as possible, despite touching on themes with the potential to stretch the creative and critical thinking skills of your most able students.'  www.teachsecondary.com 

• ISBN10: 0435161520
• ISBN13: 9780435161521
• Publish Date: 26 September 2014 (first published 2 May 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 15 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pearson Education Limited
• Imprint: Heinemann
• Edition: School Edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 216
• Language: English

Reviews

[nitzan_schwarz]

2015 tbr challenge + cleaning my shelves 2015

Originally published on my blog.

I know, I know. What the heck? How could you've given this book three stars!? Well, it's... complicated... I... I mean... I think...I think I missed something, with this whole book.

I love Patrick Ness. His Chaos Walking trilogy is one of my favorite series - and quite possibly the most gut-wrenching and painful series I've ever read. I know he can wreck havoc on someone's emotions, that he can totally tarnish and destroy your soul (and repair it with the same expertise). So, I had no trouble believing all those reviews saying how this book made them into a sobbing mess. I was even eagerly waiting for it to happen!

But then it didn't.

I know. I can't really wrap my head around it either, but the fact is... for most of the book, I felt nothing. Not toward Conor and his struggle, not toward the monster... I was just reading it, nothing else. Around the end, when his mother had The Talk with him, I finally felt a little wet in the eyes, and I was hopeful the ruthless sobbing will be coming next.

But it didn't. Thirty seconds later, my eyes were dry, and stayed that way. I honestly feel like I might've missed something. I mean, I should've felt something. Why didn't I?! The book was well written, and had the classic Ness imagery. And still... nothing!

Another thing that was hard for me is that this book is super short. It's only 205 pages, and that's while counting in all those wordless pages of illustrations. So, really, it's probably more around 160 pages, if that. It felt short, to me, too. Like, I didn't really have enough time to get to know everyone and everything. Maybe that's why I wasn't moved by the story.

Writing this review - giving the book this rating - was so hard. I really, really, really wanted to love it. But I don't regret getting this book. If anything, it's a gorgeous addition to my shelves - what with the stunning illustrations and the gorgeous second cover...

Originally published on my blog.

[A Darker Shade of Rosie]

✨ A Darker Shade of Rosie + Twitter ✨

→ DISLIKED: Honest to goodness, I did feel bad for Conor, being only a teenager and feeling invisible with a terminally ill mother. I did get a bit emotional at parts, but I just... didn't have a strong reaction to it like I do with other books.

→ LIKED: I found the dialogue between Conor and the 'monster' comical at most times, which saved me from putting down the book a lot. I did like their interactions, and the monster's stories, which did have major twists.

[Rinn]

A beautiful, moving story with some stunning illustrations. It is short and simple, but heart-wrenching. I felt the images really pulled it together to give it an ethereal feel.
I'm not going to review it properly, but I am going to say, read it.

[nannah]

Wow. I don't think any book has made me cry this hard (well, except for his Chaos Walking trilogy, that is). This book is poignant and beautiful. And REAL. Cancer has been in my life, and so this book struck a (really sad and deep) chord with me. Ness can really work his words, too. He has become my favorite author, hands down. This book is a masterpiece.