A Monster Calls

For the film adaptation of the novel, see A Monster Calls (film)

A Monster Calls

First edition cover
Author	Patrick Ness
Illustrator	Jim Kay
Cover artist	Kay
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Children's fantasy novel
Publisher	Walker Books
Publication date	5 May 2011[1]
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	214 pp (first edition)
ISBN	978-1-4063-1152-5
OCLC	754586643
LC Class	PZ7.N43843 Mok 2011[2]

A Monster Calls is a low fantasy novel written for children by Patrick Ness "from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd", illustrated by Jim Kay, and published by Walker in 2011.^[1] Set in present-day England, it features a boy who struggles to cope with the consequences of his mother's terminal cancer; he is repeatedly visited in the middle of the night by a monster who tells stories. Dowd suffered from terminal cancer herself when she started the story and died before she could write it.^[3]

Patrick Ness and illustrator Kay won the Carnegie Medal and the Greenaway Medal in 2012, the "year's best" children's literary awards by the British librarians (CILIP). A Monster Calls is the only book whose author and illustrator, whether two persons or one, have won both Medals.^[4][5][6][7]

Origin

Siobhan Dowd conceived the novel during her own terminal illness. She discussed it and contracted to write it with editor Denise Johnstone-Burt at Walker Books, who also worked with Patrick Ness. After Dowd's death in August 2007, Walker arranged for Ness to write the story. Later, Walker and Ness arranged for Jim Kay to illustrate it, but Ness and Kay did not meet until after it was published in May 2011.^[3][7]

After winning the Carnegie, Ness discussed the writing with The Guardian newspaper:^[3]

I wouldn't have taken it on if I didn't have complete freedom to go wherever I needed to go with it. If I'd felt hampered at all – again, even for very good reasons – then that harms the story, I think. And I did this not for egomaniacal reasons, that my decisions were somehow automatically right or some such nonsense, but because I know that this is what Siobhan would have done. She would have set it free, let it grow and change, and so I wasn't trying to guess what she might have written, I was merely following the same process she would have followed, which is a different thing.

...

I always say it felt like a really private conversation between me and her, and that mostly it was me saying, "Just look what we're getting away with."

Kay was selected based on illustrating one scene, solicited by art director Ben Norland:^[3]

Due to other commitments I had a weekend to produce an image, and I very hastily created the scene of the Monster leaning against the house. It was a technique I hadn't tried before, dictated to some degree by the time constraints, which in hindsight may have helped.

...

I imagine the story as a moving film or piece of theatre, and I start building the props and setting the scenery around the characters. I love atmosphere, and I guess that's what I wanted to contribute. If I'd been left alone I would have avoided all of the key scenes, I was nervous about dealing with them, but Ben was fantastic in giving the book structure and, thankfully, insisting that I should tackle the explosive, energetic elements of the book.

Plot

The story opens with 13-year-old Conor O'Malley waking from the same nightmare he has been experiencing for the past few months, "the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming". At seven minutes after midnight (12:07), a voice calls to him from outside his bedroom window, which overlooks an old church and its graveyard and is sheltered by a yew tree. Walking to the window, Conor meets the monster, a towering mass of branches and leaves in human shape. The monster insists that Conor summoned it, and that it will help Conor by telling him three short stories. In exchange Conor must tell his own story afterward.

The monster continues to meet Conor, almost always at 12:07 am, to tell its stories. Between its tales, which aim to demonstrate the complications inherent in humans, it is revealed that Conor's mother is undergoing chemotherapy and has been afflicted with cancer for the past few months. His father is nowhere to console him, and a cold relationship with his grandmother provides no comfort either. Conor is a victim of bullying at school and he has distanced himself from all other social contact. As the story progresses, his mother's condition worsens.

Conor's encounters with the monster have escalating consequences. While the first story has no real impact on Conor's life, the second story leads to being blamed for the monster vandalising his grandmother's living room, and the third leads to physically assaulting Harry, the school bully, after brief possession by the monster.

When he is forced to tell his own nightmare, however, Conor finally begins to confront his feelings. Ultimately the monster comforts him, revealing that its purpose has been to heal him. The novel closes with Conor accepting his mother's imminent death and the changes it will bring to his life. At 12:07, his mother dies in the hospital.

Critical reception

A Monster Calls received widespread acclaim. Philip Pullman, author of the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, praised the novel as "compelling ... powerful and impressive", Similarly, New York Times critic Jessica Bruder wrote "this is one profoundly sad story" and called the novel "a potent piece of art," applauding Kay's illustrations.^[8] Daniel Hahn from The Independent also praised A Monster Calls, saying that it was "brave and beautiful, full of compassion," and that "the result trembles with life."^[9] Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review and called it "a singular masterpiece."^[10]

Awards

Ness and Kay won the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals for writing and illustration, recognising the year's best work published in the UK.^[4][5] The double win alone is unprecedented in more than fifty years since the illustration award was established.^[6][7] A Monster Calls also won the British Children's Book of the Year, voted by an "academy of 750 book industry experts";^[11][12] the Red House Children's Book Award, overall, a national award voted by British children;^[13][14] and the Kitschies Red Tentacle award for speculative fiction, best novel published in the UK.^[15] In the U.S., the American Library Association magazine Booklist named it the "Top of the List" for 2011 youth fiction.^[16]

Daily newspapers including The Independent,^[17] Chicago Sun-Times,^[18] and The Wall Street Journal^[19] named it to year-end "Best" lists.

Film adaptation

On 5 March 2014, Focus Features bought the film rights to the book and is committing $20 million in P&A to release the movie.^[20] On 9 April 2014, it was announced that a film based on the book will be released by Focus Features on 14 October 2016.^[21] The film was directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and written by the book's author Patrick Ness.^[22] On 23 April 2014, Felicity Jones joined the film to play the boy's mother.^[23] On 8 May, Liam Neeson joined the film to play the Monster.^[24] On 18 August, Sigourney Weaver joined to play the boy's grandmother.^[25] On 19 August, Toby Kebbell also joined the film.^[26]

The film premiered on September 10, 2016 at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in Spain on October 7, 2016 and will be released in the United States on December 23, 2016, by Focus Features.^[27]

References

External links

• A Monster Calls in libraries (WorldCat catalog) —immediately, first US edition
• Patrick Ness at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database