A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd                                                                     by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Jim Kay  Published by Candlewick: Massachusetts, 2012        

Connor is a thirteen year old boy who is terrorized by a monster in his yard that comes to him at 12:07 am. It continuously demands the truth from Connor. During the day, Connor must deal with his mother having cancer and undergoing treatments.  

• Appropriate target audience: Children ages 9 and up

• Strengths: The illustrations enhance the frightening and emotional story that is told in the words on the page.  This book is emotionally charged in a very masculine way and will appeal  to reluctant readers.

• Weaknesses:  The monster concept may frighten younger readers.

• Meaningful/Creative Uses: 1. Connor’s monster looks  like a tree in his backyard.  Take children on a nature walk with a sketch pad and have them find something in nature that they could turn into a monster.  Create a display of the children’s monsters.                              2. Taking the monster display further, have children record one frightening truth.  Have a QR code by the monster and the scary truth sentence will play when the QR code is scanned.

• Awards: Carnegie Medal and Katie Greenway Award winner, 2012   (first book to win both prizes simultaneously)

• Other: The book was started by Siobhan Dowd who began the story when she was facing terminal cancer.  She died while the book was still unwritten.

• Read-a-likes: More than This by Patrick Ness and Published by Candlewick: Mass, 2013           Seth drowns.  However, he wakes up and isn’t where he is.  Did he really die?

The Rest of Us Just Live by Patrick Ness                                                    Published by Harper Teen: New York, 2016                                                     Mikey isn’t extraordinary.  There are no zombies in his life or anything apocalyptic.  He is searching for the extraordinary from his ordinary life.