BotM Dec. "A Monster Calls" Patrick Ness

[Cheryl]

A Monster Calls has won awards and, iiuc, is a movie. It's also illustrated. The CD set includes a disc with the illustrations. But do not read the blurb or look at the art until you're well into the book... the first blurb for the book hid the identity of the monster and you don't want to spoil it for yourself!

[Cheryl]

Ok, done reading. I see that I exaggerated the spoileriness of the information... but still, it's best to read it cold, and look only at the art as it shows up in the book.

It's a short book, with lots of illustrations. In fact, if you have it checked out, you could read it now and still make it to today's meeting at 2! It's marketed to young teens, and is accessible to those young readers who can pay attention and empathize with the characters.

But it's really a fable for all ages. Even if you feel that the child is too naive and his story is too simple, consider the stories of the adults... those aren't revealed as directly and are worth puzzling through. And I'll tell you this much - there are aspects of the child's story that are likely to be surprising, even at the end....

I would consider reading more by the author, and by Siobhan Dowd, whose notes inspired Ness to write this.