Conors teachers attempt to mediate between him and the other children, but in doing so end up treating him differently as well, offering him special rules and attention not afforded to the other children. As his mothers condition worsens, Conor has been facing an ongoing struggle in coming to terms with his others mortality, and the stilted, painful way in which other people treat those with the disease and their loved ones.'For Conors estranged father, cancer is an unmentionable, a barrier that sits between him and his son and that can only be dealt with in platitudes while for the children at school its something that marks Conor out as different, resulting in his isolation from the others. Twelve year old Conor has been watching his mother slowly succumb to terminal cancer, a disease that is famously not only a physical disease, but also a social one. So opens Patrick Nesss' A Monster Calls, a brilliant and moving exploration of grief and loss and of the different paths different people take in dealing with them.

Books like a monster calls