…a story that lodges in your bones and stays there…There's no denying it: this is one profoundly sad story. But it's also wise, darkly funny and brave, told in spare sentences, punctuated with fantastic images…and stirring silences.
—Jessica Bruder

Thirteen-year-old Conor is living a nightmare. His mother is dying of cancer and neither she nor he can deal with the reality of her impending absence. Conor's father, remarried and living abroad with a new wife and baby, does not have the bandwidth to handle his son's anger. To his dismay, Conor's grandmother comes to stay for the latest round of disabling treatments. Grandma, rigid in normal circumstances, attempts to hold her own grief in check by implementing strict control over Conor. If that is not enough, Conor has become a target of bullying at school where his denial and suffering combine to drive help away. Nightly, Conor finds himself haunted by a dark and frightening monster—the incarnation of a huge yew tree from the graveyard just beyond his backyard. Defiant and skeptical, Conor struggles to make sense of the monster's visits and the three tales he shares—a process which ultimately shows Conor a path through his even darker and more frightening daily reality. Ness's novella is the brainchild of Irish young adult author Siobhan Dowd, who became a victim of cancer herself in 2007. If a bit slow to get moving, the story's tone serves to put the reader squarely in Conor's shoes. Conor is not a particularly sympathetic protagonist. He is stubborn and selfish. In the end, however, the story works on many levels. Death is not fair and it does not arrive conveniently, and it is messy and confusing, ultimately leaving its victims feeling powerless. Jim Kay's stunning illustration is a perfect complement to the text and it is quite likely what will draw readers' initial interest. In the same way that Ness captures Conor's frustration with words, one can almost feel the angry scribbling in Kay's textured use of darkness and light. This is the perfect book to put in the hands of teens unsure how to approach a grieving friend. Reviewer: Laurie Vaughan