Tracey Mach
ENGL 112
Dr. Warner
October 25, 2016
Book Talk: A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness
Website: http://patrickness.com/
Ness was born in 1971 and lived in the United States until 1999, where he then moved to the United Kingdom. He had attended and graduated from the University of Southern California. Ness has written 9 books and 6 of them are for young adults. He is best known for his young adult novels.
A Monster Calls was originally an idea from Siobhan Dowd, an award winning author. She had passed away from terminal cancer in 2007 before she had the chance to write it, so Ness was asked to write it. The book was published in 2011 and has won several awards. It is the only book to win both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenway Medal. The latter is for the illustrations by Jim Kay.
Summary:
After his mother started to receive treatments for her cancer, 13 year old Conor O’ Malley has been having the same reoccurring nightmare for the past few months, just after midnight. One night he is visited by a monster, whose form is taken from the yew tree across his house in the middle of a graveyard. The monster shows up to tell Conor three stories and then expects the boy to tell the fourth one, the truth.
Significant Quotes:
1. “The monster loosened its grip, and…make Conor disappear forever - .” (pg 35-37). This quotation is one that helps get the story moving along. The monster appears to Conor to tell him tales that will ultimately provide a lesson. Conor is reluctant to go along with this, but he does not have a choice.
2. “What do you have to say…possibly serve?” (155-157). This passage is after Conor expresses his anger towards the school bully, Harry. Harry figured out the way to hurt Conor the most is by making him feel invisible and Conor basically puts him in a hospital. It also makes the readers question why exactly does Conor want to be punished.
3. “His mum shook her head slightly…more to say.” (166-168). This is the part where Conor’s mother gives him the talk. She is not going to get any better and will not be here for much longer. She has accepted her fate and is now trying to comfort her son for the last time.
Where this story fits in Adolescents in the Search for Meaning:
This story might fit well in Chapter 5 of Adolescents in the Search for Meaning because it deals with the topic of death and loss. In A Monster Calls, Conor must face the fact that his mother has terminal cancer and deal with the effects that it have on him. The book could be used to give comfort to those who might have witnessed or experienced a death of a parent. It also provides support in the fact that though the loss will be hard, they will make be able to face the future.
A Monster Calls can be considered a Young Adult novel as it features several of the Exeter qualities. It follows the protagonist throughout his unfortunate experience and readers get to see his emotional growth. The complex subject of death is something the readers are able to sympathize or relate to. The novel is pretty fast paced and manages to keep readers engaged and in suspense.
Text complexity:
The Lexile measure for this book is at 730L and it is recommended for readers around 11- 13. The book is fairly easy to read as there are not a lot of difficult and confusing passages. The sentences are sometimes long, but not quite difficult. There are some parts where the reader will need to slow down to take in the importance of a passage, but most parts go by quickly. There is not a lot of complex vocabulary and it reads with relative ease. It is mostly linear in terms of timeline, though there are the occasional flashbacks.