Teen Review: A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls
By Patrick Ness
Inspired by an idea by Siobhan Dowd
Illustrated by Jim Kay

Overall Rating: 5/5 
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5

A Monster Calls tells the story of Conor, a teen living with his mother. His mother is in the advanced stages of cancer and continually tired from chemotherapy, leaving Conor mostly on his own.

And then the Monster shows up. Dark and imposing and utterly tree-like (without resembling Groot in text or in illustration), the monster says he came walking to answer Conor's call and would tell him three stories.

I read this in one day. At the desk and in the window at work, then in a wild desperate sprint at home that evening. I cried so hard by the ending. This is a masterfully-told story about a young boy coming to terms with the unthinkable, with survivor's guilt, with all the things that come before the after. Conor's story is heartbreaking and so very, very true to the experiences of anyone who has watched a loved one dying. The very idea of the book is gut-wrenching, terrifying and still holds a fragile, resilient hope at its center. That there will be an after. That we can move on.

The illustrations are intense, beautiful black-and-white pieces that mix pen and ink drawing with block cuts and stamping to produce the wildness of the untamed wilderness in a stark world that no longer cares for it. It evokes emotions of longing, of loneliness, of that feeling of watching a single crow flying overhead on a cloudy day. I could not review this book without gushing about the visuals. They added so much to the story, literally framing the narrative and giving the reader a sense of how important certain scenes were to Conor and the people around him.

I intend to watch the recent film release in the near future in order to post a book-to-film essay on Books by Day, Films by Night. There should also be a video forthcoming (I swear!) talking about what this book did better than the movie and vice versa on my (much neglected) YouTube channel.

Teen Review: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer
Rick Riordan

Rating: 4/5

The Sword of Summer begins another of Rick Riordan's multi-book series centered on mythology from different regions. This particular series focuses on Norse and Scandinavian mythology and opens with a smart-aleck first-person narrator named Magnus. As Magnus is introduced to a new world of monsters and gods that lives parallel to the world he knew, Riordan brings out a time-tested formula of snappy narrator, unknown evil, and a whole new set of rules that the reader is learning just as the main character is. The result is a fast-paced, hysterically funny read for teens, mature children, and adults who can't resist a smart-mouthed narrator.

Rick Riordan does follow a formula in writing these mythology reboot series, it really is a fantastic formula. His characters glow, popping off the page both from his dialog and his vivid descriptions. The action happens fast, at the speed of the character's grasp of the situation. And then there's the later commentary from now-Magnus looking back on then-Magnus. Riordan is a master of the cliff-hanger ending, drawing the reader from page to page even between chapters with a constant sense of curiosity.

This series came to my attention after the announcement that Rick Riordan had been awarded the Stonewall Award for the second installment. In that book, he introduces a trans and gender-fluid character, Alex Fierro.

Rick Riordan (in his acceptance speech): "I think, to support young LGBTQ readers, the most important thing publishing can do is to publish and promote more stories by LGBTQ authors, authentic experiences by authentic voices. We have to keep pushing for this. The Stonewall committee’s work is a critical part of that effort. I can only accept the Stonewall Award in the sense that I accept a call to action – firstly, to do more myself to read and promote books by LGBTQ authors."