A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd

Front Cover
Candlewick Press, Sep 27, 2011 - Young Adult Fiction - 224 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, featuring stunning artwork by Jim Kay.

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

First Page
1
Breakfast
10
School
18
Life Writing
23
Three Stories
28
Grandma
38
The Wildness of Stories
44
The First Tale
52
Yew Trees
127
Could It Be?
131
No Tale
136
I No Longer See You
142
The Third Tale
146
Punishment
153
A Note
159
100 Years
163

The Rest of the First Tale
58
Understanding
66
Little Talk
74
Grandmas House
80
Champ
86
Americans Dont Get Much Holiday
91
The Second Tale
99
The Rest of the Second Tale
108
Destruction
115
Invisible
122
Whats The Use of You?
169
The Fourth Tale
173
The Rest of the Fourth Tale
184
Life After Death
189
Something in Common
197
The Truth
201
Last Page
206
Copyright Page
207
Copyright

Other editions - View all

A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
Patrick Ness,Siobhan Dowd
Limited preview - 2013
A Monster Calls
Patrick Ness
No preview available - 2020
A Monster Calls: Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd
Patrick Ness,Jim Kay,Siobhan Dowd
No preview available - 2011
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 started Conor stood Conor swallowed Conor whispered Conor yelled Conor’s grandma 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 Ifyou inside invisible kitchen laughed leaning let her go Lily looked back loud Marl Miss Kwan mother mouth mum’s never night nightmare ofthe okay opened parson prince pulled pushing queen real monster rucksack screaming seemed settee she’d shook Siobhan Dowd sleep smiled somehow sorry sound stared stepped stopped story stupid suddenly tale talk tell There’s they’d thing thought tired took truth voice waiting walking What’s window yew tree

About the author (2011)

Patrick Ness is the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling Chaos Walking trilogy. He has won the Booktrust Teenage Prize, the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, and the Costa Children's Book Award. Born in Virginia, Patrick Ness lives in London.

Siobhan Dowd spent twenty years as a human rights campaigner before her first novel, A Swift Pure Cry, was published in 2006. She won the Carnegie Medal posthumously in 2009 after her death from breast cancer, in 2007.

Jim Kay studied illustration and worked in the archives of the Tate Gallery and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, two experiences that have influenced his work. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Bibliographic information

TitleA Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
AuthorsPatrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd
Illustrated byJim Kay
Editionillustrated, unabridged
PublisherCandlewick Press, 2011
ISBN076365633X, 9780763656331
Length224 pages
Subjects ›  › 

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