A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd

Front Cover
Candlewick Press, Aug 27, 2013 - Young Adult Fiction - 240 pages

NOW A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting-- he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

 

Selected pages

Contents

A Monster Calls
1
Breakfast
10
School
18
Life Writing
24
Three Stories
31
Grandma
41
The Wildness of Stories
49
The First Tale
56
Yew Trees
139
Could It Be?
144
No Tale
151
I No Longer See You
157
The Third Tale
162
Punishment
168
A Note
176
100 Years
181

The Rest of the First Tale
65
Understanding
72
Little Talk
82
Grandmas House
89
Champ
97
Americans Dont Get Much Holiday
103
The Second Tale
111
The Rest of the Second Tale
119
Destruction
125
Invisible
132
Whats the Use of You?
189
The Fourth Tale
195
The Rest of the Fourth Tale
203
Life After Death
209
Something in Common
215
The Truth
220
Last Page
225
Book Group Discussion Guide
227
Copyright Page
231
Copyright

Other editions - View all

A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
Patrick Ness,Siobhan Dowd
Limited preview - 2011
A Monster Calls
Patrick Ness
No preview available - 2020
A monster calls
Patrick Ness
No preview available - 2013
View all »

Common terms and phrases

Anton and Sully Apothecary arms backyard barely bedroom berries breath called can’t chest clock Conor asked Conor didn’t Conor felt Conor knew Conor looked Conor O’Malley Conor shouted Conor stared Conor stood Conor swallowed Conor whispered Conor yelled Conor’s grandma couldn’t door dream face farmer’s daughter father fell fists floor grabbed hadn’t hands happened hard Harry Harry’s he’d head headmistress heal hear heard holding hospital I’ve inside invisible kitchen laughed leaning let her go Lily looked back loud Marl Miss Kwan mother mouth mum’s never night nightmare ofit ofthe okay opened parson prince pulled pushing queen real monster roared rucksack screaming seemed settee she’d shook Siobhan Dowd sitting room sleep smiled somehow sorry sound started stepped stopped story stupid tale talk tell There’s they’d thing thought tired took truth voice waiting walking What’s window yew tree

About the author (2013)

Patrick Ness is the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling Chaos Walking trilogy, as well as the Carnegie Medal–winning A Monster Calls, inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd. Among the numerous awards he has received are the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Born in Virginia, he lives in London.

Bibliographic information

QR code for A Monster Calls
TitleA Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
AuthorsPatrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd
PublisherCandlewick Press, 2013
ISBN0763669091, 9780763669096
Length240 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Young Adult Fiction / Family / Parents
Young Adult Fiction / Monsters
Young Adult Fiction / Social Themes / Death, Grief, Bereavement
  
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