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| 50 Book Pledge | Book #23: The Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson |
I present a passage from Candlewick Press‘s A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd.
Nevertheless, the monster said, standing, the roof beams of his grandma’s office seeming to sigh with relief, that is what will happen after the third tale.
“Great,” Conor said. “Another story when there are more important things going on.”
Stories are important, the monster said. They can be more important than anything. If they carry the truth.
“Life writing,” Conor said, sourly, under his breath.
The monster looked surprised. Indeed, it said.
Siobhan Dowd
Siobhan Dowd was a writer of novels for young people, who died from cancer aged 47. There aren’t many novelists who have won awards for every single book they’ve written, but Siobhan Dowd’s name is on that list. Amongst other accolades, her books have won the Carnegie Award (2009), the Branford Boase Award (2007), and the Red House Children’s Book Award (2008).
As well as writing, Siobhan was something of an literary activist, working not only against censorship, but also for the human rights of writers in Indonesia and Guatemala. In the UK she was committed to working with children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds; she co-founded a program which takes authors into schools in socially deprived areas, as well as prisons, young offender institutions and community projects.
In the very last days before she died Siobhan set up The Siobhan Dowd Trust with the specific aim of bringing books and reading to UK kids who might not otherwise have access to great books and inspiring authors. The Siobhan Dowd Trust exists to fund any person or groups that:
Take stories to children and young people without stories;
Bring the joy of reading and books to children and young people deprived of access to books and of the opportunity to read;
Fund and support disadvantaged young readers where there is no funding or support. In accordance with Siobhan’s wishes, their funding process is very open, flexible, and they hope, simple.
Wanting to find out some more about the The Siobhan Dowd Trust I recently interviewed Kate Powling, the Director of the Trust.
Playing by the book: Kate, could you tell me a little about why Siobhan set up the trust in her name? What was it that inspired her to do so?
Kate, Director of the Siobhan Dowd Trust: Siobhan set up the Trust just before she died. Her life was spent working for charities and then writing – so the Trust was a way to bring together the things she cared about. I don’t know where the inspiration came from: perhaps her extraordinary generosity and belief in the power of books and reading to help children who most need help.
Playing by the book: What sort of projects has the trust already funded? What sort of projects would the trust like to fund?
Kate: The trustees of the fund wish to fund start up innovative schemes, where a small grant will act as “start-up” or seed money to grow into something bigger and ideally self-sustaining. We also want to encourage scattered groups to work together to learn from each other, not act in isolation or in competition with each other.
Our biggest grant so far is to Letterbox Green, which sends books to young adults in care (more information about this project can be found
1 Comments on The Siobhan Dowd Trust – Bringing books and reading to disadvantaged kids in the UK, last added: 2/27/2012
On my nightstand is an ARC of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. I am having a very hard time getting into it because ...it's about a dying girl. DUH! I mean, I already read John Green's The Fault in My Stars. That's sort of about a dying girl. And last night, I had the ambiguous pleasure? - honor? - um experience? of reading A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. The person dying in that book is a grown-up girl.
Writing about dying people is not new in books written for younger people - or in
any books for that matter. But it just feels weird that so many books on the subject of cancer have crossed in front of my eyes this Fall/Winter. Because of the Dad with cancer thing. That's why it feels weird. Except, God willing, Dad is not dying of cancer - just of living a long life - and not yet.
I am nostalgic for the days when no one from my immediate family had cancer. It seems like a very long time ago.
Back to the books.
The Monster Calls set me off on a crying jag! Conor's anger, guilt and pain as he deals - or avoids dealing with - his mother's cancer and imminent death are absolutely wrenching. The book served as biblio-therapy for me. But there is nothing clinical about this book. Ness creates a monster that forces Conor to face what is going on in his life with some very dramatic results. The narrative is spellbinding. This book is a worthy opponent in the
Battle of the Books. Read it, but as with
The Fault in Our Stars, keep a box of tissues handy.
The book is based on an outline developed by author
Siobhan Dowd who died of breast cancer herself. I think she would like what Ness did with her story.
As for
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl? I haven't finished it yet but the premise of the book is one I bet a lot of teens can identify with. Rachel - Greg dated her in sixth grade - has been diagnosed with leukemia and Greg's mom has decided that Greg should spend more time with poor, poor Rachel. Awkward! Greg is a good kid. And he's got a manic motormouth that is very funny. So his renewed friendship with Rachel seems to actually help her. There's something about film making here, too. I'll give you my final verdict when I get through the whole book.
Who says February is a bummer? Imagine my joy this morning when my sleepy eyes spied the announcement in my Twitter feed that the 2012 BoB contenders had been announced! I adore the Bob's (also known more formally as the School Library Journal Battle of the Kids Books.) I love the guest judges. I love the monkey wrench of the Undead contender. I love the debate and conversation and
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Betsy Bird,
on 10/16/2011
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A Monster Calls
By Patrick Ness
Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
Illustrated by Jim Kay
Candlewick Press
$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5559-4
Ages 11 and up
On shelves now
I don’t mind metaphors as much as I might. I think that generally I’m supposed to hate them when they show up in children’s literature. I don’t if they’re done well, though. Maybe if I were an adult encountering The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time I’d find the Jesus allegory annoying, but as a kid it flew right over me. Similarly, if I were an eleven-years-old today and someone handed me A Monster Calls I could read this whole book and not once speculate as to what the monster “really means”. Author Patrick Ness (who also wrote a book called Monsters of Men just to confuse you) writes a layered story that can be taken straight or at an angle, depending on what you want out of the book. What I wanted was a great story, compelling characters, and a killer ending. That I got and so much more.
The monster comes at 12:07. It would probably be easier for everyone, the monster included, if Conor were afraid of it, but he isn’t. Conor’s afraid of much worse things at the moment. His mom has cancer and this time the treatments don’t seem to be working as well as they have in the past. He’s plagued by a nightmare so awful he believes that no one else ever need know of it. Bullies at school pound him regularly, his grandmother is annoying, and his dad lives with a different family in America. The crazy thing is that Conor kind of wants to be punished, but the monster has a different purpose in mind. It’s going to tell him three stories and when it’s done Conor will tell him a fourth. A fourth that is the truth and also the last thing he’d ever want to say.
For the record, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate a book that includes the word “monster” in the title and then proceeds to include lots o’ monster. Since we’re dealing with the serious subject matter of a boy learning to forgive himself as his mother dies of cancer, Ness could also be forgiven for just putting a dab of monster here or a dribble of monster there. Instead he starts with the monster (“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.”) continues to pile on the monster scenes, and by the time you reach the end there’s not a kid alive who could say they were mislead by the cover or title. The monster in this book isn’t the only wild Green Man to be published this year. Season Of Secrets by Sally Nicholls
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd, illustrated by Jim Kay) is, quite simply, the best book I’ve read this year and also my favorite book of the year. If I only convince you to read one book this year, make it this one. It is brilliant and unforgettable and I don’t think I’m capable of doing it justice, but I’m going to try anyway.
So…
The nightmares are nothing new to Conor—he’s had them for months now, ever since his mother got sick. But the monster who comes for him and calls his name one night, well, the monster is new to Conor. Not that the monster itself is new. The monster is ancient and timeless. And it has come for a reason.
Here is what will happen, Conor O’Malley, the monster continued, I will come to you again on further nights.
Conor felt his stomach clench, like he was preparing for a blow.
And I will tell you three stories. Three tales from when I walked before.
.
Conor blinked. Then blinked again. “You’re going to tell me stories?”
Indeed, the monster said.
“Well-” Conor looked around in disbelief. “How is that a nightmare?”
Stories are the wildest things of all, the monster rumbled. Stories chase and bite and hunt.
“That’s what teachers always say,” Conor said. “No one believes them, either.”
And when I have finished my three stories, the monster said, as if Conor hadn’t spoken, you will tell me a fourth.
Conor squirmed in the monster’s hand. “I’m no good at stories.”
You will tell me a fourth, the monster repeated, and it will be the truth. (p. 35-36 of ARC)
What follows is a magnificent story that is both straightforward and layered, direct and subtle. The layers to this story are so rewarding, though it’s actually told pretty simply in terms of structure and narration (no dialect or misspellings a la Ness’s awesome Chaos Walking trilogy), and, boy, does it pack an emotional punch. There are some truly devastating moments, heightened by the unflinching narration and the largely chronological structure—a directness that I think makes the story even more powerful. And yet despite this simplicity, there is so much depth, so much heart to this story.
Of course, A Monster Calls also has the remarkable backstory of being based on an idea by the late Siobhan Dowd. And knowing—knowing she died of breast cancer—makes some scenes later in the book even more gutwrenching. The book is further enhanced by Jim Kay’s numerous black and white illustrations, which add to the sense of wonder and magic, and are seamlessly intertwined with Ness’s words.
A Monster Calls is quite different from the Chaos Walking books, plotwise, as well as being quieter and more accessible. But they share a willingness to address big themes with intelligence and honest emotion, instead of sentimentality or a calculated detachment.* And, actually, emotion is what comes to mind first when thinking of A Monster Calls. Not plot, not action, not the lack of those breathtaking Chaos Walking cliffhangers. Instead, I think of how much I
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 6/30/2009
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The 2009 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal Winners have been announced! Two years after her untimely death from breast cancer at the age of 47, Siobhan Dowd’s fourth and final novel, Bog Child, has been awarded the UK’s premier accolade for children’s writing: the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Edinburgh-based illustrator Catherine Rayner has won the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, the UK’s most prestigious award for children’s book illustration, for her book Harris Finds His Feet. Click here to see photos from the award ceremony. Also, be sure to check out the latest issue of PaperTigers which focuses on Children’s Book Awards.
Hello, everyone, from Scotland! I have a review of Siobhan Dowd's latest (last?) novel, Solace of the Road, up over at Crossover.
Solace of the Road
By Siobhan Dowd
Teen-->Adult
I’m still traveling with the kids and the parents in Scotland and am following my goal of reading a number of books on the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize longlist. The one book I was most eager to read was Siobhan Dowd’s Solace of the Road. It was not easy to find up here in the Highlands, but I finally found one lone copy in Aviemore’s Waterstones. And, thank goodness, really. Solace of the Road is a book worth reading—for teens and for adults.
On the surface of things, Solace of the Road is a simple tale: Holly is a fifteen-year-old English foster child who decides to run for it and find her mother in Ireland. After years in a group home, she’s finally found placement with Fiona and Ray, a middle-aged couple whose comfortable lifestyle and quiet comportment rankles after the chaos of the group home. Holly questions whether or not Fiona and Ray even like her, or will the slightest infringement send her back to the home. In heading out on her own Holly convinces herself she is postponing the inevitable.
Solace of the Road becomes a road novel as soon as Holly takes a runner. She ‘borrows’ a blond wig from her foster mother and renames herself Solace, becoming an older, more sophisticated version of her 15-year-old self. She makes it all the way to Ireland—by bus and by hitching a ride with a number of strangers—before realizing her mother, in fact, would not be waiting for her on the other shore.
While runaway teens aren’t exactly a groundbreaking subject in Young Adult fiction, Solace of the Road is unique in its telling. Siobhan Dowd’s characterization nears perfection. Holly/Solace takes off with nearly forty pounds, but manages to blow it all on the first leg of her journey (Oxford), instead of squirreling it away carefully to last the entire trip. Holly’s judgments are split-second, instead of well considered and reasoned. When, for example, she finally decides to break her own moral code and shoplift, she nicks a pretty, floaty dress, instead of food. And, like most teens, her talent for denial serves her valiantly all the way to Ireland.
Solace of the Road distinguishes itself from standard teen fiction thematically, as well. While Holly meets one or two creeps on the road, most people who help her out do so out of human kindness—as would be the case in real life. This is not a dark teen novel, but rather one in which ordinary goodness shines through—to the reader and, in the end, to Holly as well. When back with Fiona and Ray at the novel’s conclusion, Holly realizes what she has experienced when talking with a therapist:
Other times I tell her [the therapist] about everyone I met on my travels. I show her the map and describe the good people on it who were like guardian angels because they did something to help me and asked for nothing back.
Chloe, who told me about Thule.
Kim, who gave me a sandwich.
The magnet man.
The boy on the motorbike, whose name I never knew, and Kirk, even, with his truckload
of pigs.
Sian, who said I had a figure like a dancer.
And Phil with his sad vegan eyes giving me the cake with pretend candles, and God is sitting in him still, I bet you, and he’s taking the scenic routes and chasing the white dividers in his cheese truck, planning his next move.
All these people—Phil the Vegan Truck Driver easily the best among them—help Holly on her journey, and only want the best for her, though they think she’s an eighteen-year-old off to elope with a sketchy boyfriend. Call me naïve, but I suspect this is what happens in the majority of similar situations, and level-headed realism instead of stylized darkness is refreshing to read in a teen novel. Enjoy this one on the road.
Solace of the Road
By Siobhan Dowd
U.K. edition
David Fickling Books
London, 2009
Copy Purchased
Notes:
U.S. edition due October 13, 2009.
I have to admit I hate the cover. I am so tired of the back of teen girls’ heads. Can someone please put a stop to this? Please?
I read Kit's Wilderness by David Almond for my YA lit class last summer. I didn't like it.
I read Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd this weekend and absolutely loved it.
But, when I was finished Bog Child on Monday morning and was thinking about it (because it is a book that stays with you) I was struck by the similarities in the stories, and how one was so much more successful than the other.
Kit's Wilderness is the story of Kit, who moves to an English mining town to help take care of his elderly grandfather. He and his friends play the game of Death, to scare themselves. His grandfather tells him the stories of the mines, of his family. He develops a relationship (not friends, but almost) with the school troublemaker. He writes a story about a pre-historic cave family that's woven in throughout the main story.
Look,
Kit's Wilderness is a Printz winner and I haven't liked the other books by Almond I've read. The story was good. But... it was heavily layered and full of symbolism and parallels. I don't mind that--it usually makes a good story, but the
craft of the story was just so obvious. I could see what Almond was doing as I was reading it. When the craft of a story is so blatant that I notice it as I'm reading? Then I can't enjoy the story. I don't want such things to be obvious until I put the book down and start thinking. In this, the parallels were SO OBVIOUS. The book should come with a frying pan, because it kept hitting you over the head.
Now,
Bog Child is completely different.
Fergus lives in Northern Ireland, near the border with Ireland in 1981. One day he finds a body in the bog and assumes it's a victim of the increased violence since Bobby Sands died. But, the body in the bog turns out to be from the Iron Age. Fergus must navigate life in Northern Ireland with a hunger-striking brother in prison, being recruited into IRA activities, and the archaeologists trying to discover the story of the body he dreams about at night.
So the similarities are:
Mood--
Kit's Wilderness gets its bleakness from the winter season and mining landscape.
Bog Child's is from the political undercurrents and family tension.
Pre-historic Story--Kit writes a story about a cave family that's woven through, Fergus dreams the life of the Bog Child leading up to her death.
Parallels--Both have several parallel stories and layers.
The story Kit's writing in English class parallels what is going on in his day-to-day life in a way that's so obvious I couldn't handle the book.
Bog Child is subtler--Fergus's brother is starving himself in prison, the Bog Child is living through a time of famine, and there are subtle hints that Cora might have an eating disorder, starving herself for another reason (although this is NEVER said and might be me reading more into the text, but I'm willing to write a pretty strong paper on why I think this is so.)
All in all,
Kit's Wilderness left me cold, while
Bog Child haunts me. I had to force myself to finish the first (hello homework!) and couldn't put the second down.
Each month I attempt to read several books that have forever sat on my TBR shelf (whether physically or virtually), either finally pulling them off my shelf or heading out to the library and picking them up. After reading them, I certainly want to share as I share each book I read with all of you, though so many of you have already read and reviewed these titles (and therefore your fault I have to read them in the first place), I don't see a reason to written a full-blown review on each one of them. Therefore, my new "mini-review" section is born. This will probably be an end-of-the-month feature, if you don't like it for some reason, let me know!
What I Saw and How I Lied is written by Judy Blundell and is the wonderful and much deserved winner of the National Book Award. The main character, 15 year old Evie is forced to grow up a bit quicker than planned one summer when she realizes her parents are involved in some strange business deals with another couple. Evie also manages to find her first love that summer, in a man named Peter. Evie is thrust into a scary world of secrets and lies, suddenly having no idea whom to trust.
Set in a beautiful period in history and filled with great descriptions and intriguing mystery, it's clear why this won such a coveted award. Very enjoyable! Loved the cover of this one too.
What I Saw and How I Lied
Judy Blundell
288 pages
Young Adult
Scholastic
9780439903462
November 2008
The Tale of Despereaux, written by the fabulous Kate DiCamillo, charmed me right into oblivion. I cannot believe it took me this long to actually read it!!! Can't see the movie without reading the book though...
Our little talking mouse friend, Despereaux, is anything but ordinary, enjoying people instead of being scared of them. When he's banished to death for talking to the Princess, Despereaux learns the ropes of the dungeon, which...in the end...will help to save his beloved Princess from her own certain death.
The illustrations, done by Timothy Basil Ering are adorable, beautiful, charming, and fit the story completely. Loved this one, definitely buying it for my own shelves!
The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
Kate DiCamillo
272 pages
Middle grade fiction
Candlewick
9780763625290
April 2006
Finally, The London Eye Mystery, written by the fabulous Siobhan Dowd, was one of the Cybils winners this year, making it a shoe-in to be read. The complicated mystery is definitely going to rope in the middle graders it's aimed towards, and even adults as I was biting my nails through the whole thing trying to pretend I knew what was going to happen next (though I really had no clue).
When Ted and Kat's visiting cousin, Salim, disappear while riding one of London's most famous attractions, a seemingly impossible event, the race is on to find him before something even more terrible happens.
Very quick paced and filled with quirky characters, this was a great choice as a winner (nice job Cybil panelists), and a fantastic choice for library shelves. Have a reluctant reader in your family? This is a good one for that too...
The London Eye Mystery
Siobhan Dowd
336 pages
Middle grade fiction
David Fickling Books
9780375849763
February 2008
To learn more about any of these titles or to purchase, click on the book covers above to link to Amazon.
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 1/4/2009
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If you haven’t already found your way to the Cybils shortlists, then head on over there and check them out.
The pannelists had a huge number of books to read this year - word is definitely getting round! - and now the judges have some tough choices to make.
I’m delighted to see that Wabi Sabi made it through to the finals - now we’ll just have to wait and see!
Meanwhile, there are lots of books there that we haven’t read yet, and several are going straight on to our books-waiting-to-be-read lists - such as Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter (non-fiction picture-books); and Alvin Ho by Lenore Look and The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (both in the Middle Grade Fiction category).
Happy reading, everyone - especially if you’re a Cybils judge!
Talk about a rollercoaster of emotion while I was reading Siobhan Dowd's newest novel for teens! Bog Child had me both loving it at times and really not understanding it (both plot and dialect of characters) as well as being almost bored from it at times...all mixed into one novel. Yep, it was a doozy of a read for me.
In the bogs of Northern Ireland, we meet Fergus, along with his Uncle Tally who happen to be in the bogs illegally and find the body of what appears to be a child. Fergus makes a mental connection to this child, probably a murdered child, and she comes to him in his dreams, almost haunting him. While trying to deal with this girl in his head, whom he's nicknamed "Mel," Fergus is also hurting over his brother in prison, who has decided to join the hunger strikers and starve himself, as well as the "Troubles" his parents are constantly fighting over, and his growing feelings for the daughter of the woman working on the bog child.
In the midst of all the emotion, Fergus is blackmailed into becoming a courier for unknown packages, which deep down he feels are drugs, carrying them along the troubled border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, with the constant fear of being caught, but having no choice but to continue. Though very aware of right and wrong, Fergus knows that this is just another instance of complete "wrong" that has wormed its way into his life, with no sign of leaving anytime soon.
The Irish dialect is, at times, incredibly difficult to understand and though there is a huge dose of history in Bog Child, it's so blatant....too obvious for my liking. Which led to boredom on some pages. And that stinks! I wanted to love it it....
So how do I put a rating on Bog Child? How do I tell you all whether or not to go out and read it? Did I love it? No. Did I like it? Sometimes. Was it exciting? Sometimes. Do I think teens will read it? No. Do I think adults will enjoy it? Probably.
Dowd writes heavy, intense, books and that's really all there is to it. So if you're willing to wade through the heaviness, not to mention the language and dialects of the Irish she has written about, then I really think you'll enjoy her books. I, unfortunately, don't think I'm that reader. Especially when I'm reading with the hopes that I've found a great book to recommend to my teens at the library...this is not that book. Adults will get the recommending of Bog Child to them, teens, probably not.
It's very difficult for me to just not "get" a novel, when I've read plenty of other blogger's rave reviews, not to mention reviews in School Library Journal and Kirkus....all loving this one. So take my review as you will. I...me...Amanda...didn't enjoy it. That doesn't mean you won't!
If you're interested in learning more or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.
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