A Monster Calls

Title:  A Monster Calls

Author: Patrick Ness

Illustrator:  Jim Kay

Publisher:  Candlewick, 2011

ISBN:  9780763655594

Audience:  Ages 12 and up

Summary:  Conor O’Malley’s mother is dying of cancer.  The treatments aren’t working but the adults around Conor-his mother, his grandmother, his visiting father from America, his teachers-allow his hopes to live.  Each day he struggles in school against persecution by Harry, the bully, condescending pity from teachers and isolation from classmates.  He tries to ignore the reality that he will probably have to go live with his brisk, no-nonsense grandmother in her spotlessly perfect house, that his divorced father will not take him.  And every night he is awakened by a nightmare too horrible to remember.  Then one night the old yew tree by the church in back of his house appears as a monster because, he says, Conor has called him.  Conor wants the monster to heal his mother; the monster says he is here to heal Conor.  And so he tells him three stories and says that Conor must tell the fourth.  It is the scariest, most difficult challenge that Conor faces: he must speak the truth.

Literary elements at work in the story: This is a work of art, an adaptation of an idea suggested by young adult author, Siobhan Dowd, before her early death.  The yew tree is an ancient symbol of death and is part of both Druid and Celtic myth. It is extremely poisonous but its bark is the source of taxol, an experimental treatment for cancer. Patrick Ness takes Dowd’s idea and weaves it into a painful, sad, funny, wise tale told in spare, eloquent sentences and with brooding pen and ink drawings to bring an elemental monster to life.  The monster says “Stories are the wildest things of all.  Stories chase and bite and hunt.”  It’s difficult to distinguish between Conor’s and the monster’s action. This story will linger long after the book is closed.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story? This is an English family.  The parents are divorced and the father lives with his new wife in America.  Grief and death are universal and none of the factors suggested shape the story

Theological Conversation Partners: Guilt, anger, grief, death, punishment, forgiveness, truth-this novel, without referring specifically to theology at all, touches on almost every facet of the Christian life. A powerful monster outside of Conor is needed to enable him to face himself and his mother’s death. The Christian faith offers answers, resources, ministry for each of these needs and conditions which the story so poignantly presents. And it offers power and strength beyond ourselves. John 1:8-9, for example, speaks of the need for confession and truth, of the promise of forgiveness and restoration.   See Psalm 32 as an example of a prayer of confession.  The strength Conor needs is ours in Christ’s promise to be with us always (Matt. 26:20b) or in the 23^rd Psalm.  The Psalms offer eloquent words to express grief and the joy of restoration (Psa.m 22:1,Psalm 86:1-7) .

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Has someone that you love died?  Do you recognize any of Conor’s feelings and experiences?
2. Is this a good description of the experience of grief?
3. The monster compels Conor to tell the truth about his nightmare, implying that there are serious consequences if he refuses.  What is difficult about telling the truth-about events, feelings, ideas?  And why is it so important?
4. Most Christian churches have a prayer of confession in their worship and we are called to confess out sins to God.  How is confession like telling the truth? What is the relation between the truth we tell and Christ who is the Truth?
5. Why does Conor feel the need for punishment?  What is the Christian answer to this feeling?
6. In 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 Paul affirms the resurrection and Christ’s victory over death.  How does this change the Christian experience of death?
7. The monster says that stories “chase and bite and hunt.”  Jesus frequently used stories to teach.  Recall some parables Jesus told that would have made his hearers uncomfortable, puzzled, or even angry.

This review was written by regular contributor Virginia Thomas.

Parables: Stories Jesus Told

Name of Book:  Parables: Stories Jesus Told

Author:  Mary Hoffman

Illustrator:  Jackie Morris

Publisher:  Phyllis Fogelman Books

ISBN:  0803725604

Audience:  Age 4 and up

Summary:  This is an illustrated collection of eight of Jesus’ parables: The House on the Rocks, The Good Samaritan, The Lost Sheep, The Workers in the Vineyard, The Prodigal Son, The Sower and the Seed, The Rich Man’s Feast, and The Unforgiving Servant.  The author introduces each story with a question to set the stage:  “Do you like building sandcastles?” or “Have you ever lost something precious?”  She goes on to tell each parable in short clear sentences, often inserting dialogue when appropriate and emphasizing characters’ joy or indignation or relief.  These are characters with whom the reader can identify emotionally.  Hoffman then ends each parable with a simple explanation of Jesus’ meaning.  Usually, these interpretations come from scripture itself, although sometimes the author inserts her own analysis, suitable to a child’s understanding.

Literary elements at work in the story:  Parables by their nature are simple tales with few characterizations.  Plot drives everything.  In this book, as with the original biblical tales, the stories sometimes end with mystifying plot turns, and the reader is left to puzzle out the meaning.  Morris’ beautiful paintings expand on the simple plots, showing us the overwhelming joy of the father as he cradles the head of his errant son against his shoulder, or the patient kindness of the Samaritan holding a bleeding stranger on his donkey.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  First-centuryPalestine was a patriarchal society, and the author and the illustrator reflect this male-centered social order in both word and picture.  All eight of these stories have male protagonists, and only two even show women in subordinate roles in the illustrations.  The characters are portrayed as Middle-Eastern in both facial features and clothing.  No attempt has been made to modernize the tales at all.

Theological conversation partners:  Several of these stories focus on the fact that God’s law is often contrary to human notions of justice. God rejoices always when one who has been lost is found, no matter how good the other sheep, sons, or workers have been nor how unfair the gift of God’s embrace seems to be.  Other parables in this collection concentrate on what it means to respond to God’s teaching.  Hearing is not enough.  Those who truly follow God must work at it, or they will lose everything – house built on sand, seed sown on rocky soil, or fantastic wedding banquet.  These stories would be good to use with discussions about what the Christian life looks like

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Jesus told a lot of stories.  I wonder why?
2. How did you feel about the story called “Fair Pay”?  If you were the vineyard owner, how would you have paid your workers?
3. Why do think Jesus told the story in the way he did?
4. How would you have reacted if you were the older brother in the story called “The Jealous Brother”?
5. Why do you think that the father was so glad to see his younger son again?
6. The Samaritan in the story called “Neighbors” would have been somebody that none of Jesus’ listeners liked.  If we told the story substituting people in our day and time, who would be a good person to play the role of the Samaritan?
7. What can we find out about God by reading the stories of the lost sheep, the prodigal son, and the workers in the vineyard?

This review was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Beth Lyon-Suhring.

Coming Home

Name of Book: Coming Home

Author: Floyd Cooper

Illustrator: Floyd Cooper

Publisher: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers

Audience: Intended audience is 4-8 years, but could be used with all ages.

Summary: “Can I get a witness?” to “Can I give a witness?”  Coming Home tells the story of the life of Langston Hughes.  Langston Hughes heard stories all of his life, stories from his grandma, stories from preachers and choirs, jazz musicians and teachers, Booker T. Washington and the Bible, the Brothers Grimm and chickens, trains, librarians, Des’s barbershop and Market Street.  Langston grew up in the Midwest during the early part of the 20^th century.  Though he lived primarily in segregated towns, he attended an all-white school.  A prolific noticer of sound—music, story, language, city and country life—Hughes became a prolific mime of sound in story, poetry, prose, and plays, describing African American life and culture.  This book would make a lovely confirmation gift as it details the life of one who hears the stories and in turn tells them.

Literary Elements at Work: Coming Home is Floyd Cooper’s biography of Langston Hughes.  Using art and language, Cooper places the reader in Hughes’ boyhood home, town, mind, church, heart, family, and consequently, his soul.  For example, we hear the clackedy, clackedy, clackedy of the old rusty rail cars as they pulse through Langston’s neighborhood; we see his grandma’s heroes as she dons her dead husband’s bullet-riddled shawl, and hear her tales of the bravest of the brave as she witnesses to the lives of great black men and women—black just like Langston; we feel the trembling and shaking earthquake in Mexico as it cracks Langston once and for all from his father; we sense the hurt and feel the anger as his mother surprises him by dragging him up on stage one evening at St. Luke’s Church; we taste the warm and plentiful food as he peruses the dinner table at Auntie and Uncle Reed’s; we hear and feel the rhythms of the singing and preaching at the Baptist church in Kansas City; and we smell the smells of home as he finally finds rest at Auntie and Uncle Reed’s.

Scripture: The Bible is filled with stories that witness to God’s glory and love.  In turn, the Bible is filled with stories that witness to human sin, love, and glory.  Jesus witnesses to the name and work of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Isaiah witnesses to the Kingdom of God and the power of servanthood when he tells the story of the Suffering Servant.  Jeremiah witnesses to the power of hope when he buys a field.  Cain witnesses to the power of envy when he slays Abel.  Stephen witnesses to the power of love when he tells the story of Jesus Christ.  Pick a story and read it aloud!

Theology: God is a story God who has created us as story people.  We know God through God’s self revelation in Jesus Christ, as witnessed by scripture and proclaimed by the church—stories.  We know one another as witnessed by scripture and proclaimed by each other—stories.  Furthermore, in Practicing Our Faith, Dorothy C. Bass writes, “Through hearing and reading the story of the Jews, African Americans come to understand their own story.  Their great and powerful origins on the continent of Africa, enslavement, the suffering of their people, the protests of their prophets, and the present-day yearning for the full justice God has promised—all of these greatly resemble the biblical paradigm of the ancient Israelites, who testified to God as the One who had led them out of the house of bondage.”[1]

Faith Talk Questions:

Ask your child each day to tell you his or her story.  For example, say, “Tell me your dreams last night,” while you tell them yours.  “Tell me your hopes for today,” while you tell them yours.  “Tell me your fears for today,” while you tell them yours. “Tell me what you want for breakfast,” while you tell them what you want.  “Tell me your favorite part of your day,” while you tell them yours.  “Tell me your least favorite part of your day,” while you tell them yours.  “Tell me your troubles,” while you tell them yours.  “Tell me your sorrows,” while you tell them yours.  “Tell me about your heroes,” while you tell them about yours.  “Tell me about your friends,” while you tell them about yours.   Write, paint or color your stories.

Review prepared by Kim Lee,  MACE, Entering Cohort Fall 20

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[1] Bass, Dorothy C. Practicing Our Faith. Josey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco, 1997, p. 96.