A Monster Calls is a low fantasy novel written for young adults by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd), illustrated by Jim Kay and published by Walker Books in 2011.

She discussed it and contracted to write it with editor Denise Johnstone-Burt at Walker Books, who also worked with Patrick Ness.

[3][7] After winning the Carnegie Medal, Ness discussed the writing with The Guardian:[3] Kay was selected based on illustrating one scene, solicited by art director Ben Norland:[3] Thirteen-year-old Conor O'Malley awakens 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 AM"), a voice calls to him from outside his bedroom window, which overlooks an old church and its graveyard sheltered by a yew tree.

Walking to the window, Conor meets the monster who called, a towering mass of branches and leaves formed in a human shape from the yew tree.

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 terminal cancer for the past year.

The monster came for Conor to confess the truth to his mother about how he wanted her to die so she did not have to suffer, he would not feel so isolated, and to end the pain for both of them.

A greedy, ill-tempered apothecary who follows the old traditions and beliefs constantly pesters a parson to allow him to cut down the yew tree in the churchyard and use it for medicinal ingredients.

When a sickness sweeps the land and many die, the parson goes to the apothecary and asks him to save the lives of his two ill daughters after all other resources are exhausted.

When the apothecary asks why he should help a man who has turned people away from his skills and denied him the yew tree, his best source of healing ingredients, the parson begs.

While the apothecary was a nasty, greedy man, he was a healer and would have saved many, including the girls, if the parson had given him the yew tree when first asked.

At the end of the story, Conor participates as the monster destroys the parson's house, only to wake and discover that he has vandalized his grandmother's sitting room, shattering many valuable and beloved items beyond repair.

As this story is told, Conor is briefly possessed by the monster and physically and violently assaults Harry, the school bully, throwing him across the dining hall, putting the boy in the hospital.

The church around the yew tree is destroyed and the land underneath Conor's mother's feet collapses, and she almost falls into the dark abyss.

Philip Pullman, author of the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, praised the novel as "compelling ... powerful and impressive",[citation needed] Similarly, The 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.

Daily newspapers including The Independent,[16] Chicago Sun-Times,[17] and The Wall Street Journal[18] named it in their year-end "Best" lists.

On 5 March 2014, Focus Features purchased the film rights to the book and at the time committed $20 million in P&A (prints and advertising) to release the movie.