Bridge to Terabithia
Katherine Paterson
Like Conor, a young narrator must work through a devastating loss and the guilt that comes with it. Paterson handles grief with the same unflinching honesty that makes A Monster Calls so affecting.
12 books to read next
Books Like A Monster Calls
If you loved A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd
Readers who love A Monster Calls usually respond to its blend of raw grief and fairy-tale strangeness. Conor's story is told with a child's honesty, and the monster's three tales make the emotional weight feel earned rather than sentimental. The pace is quiet and deliberate, the illustrations add a dreamlike texture, and the book takes its young protagonist's fear and anger seriously. These picks share that mix of hard feeling, mythic imagery and a young narrator who has to face the truth.
Grief seen through a child
The Thing About Jellyfish
Ali Benjamin
A girl investigating a friend's death searches for answers while she struggles to accept what she cannot explain. Its quiet, questioning tone will suit readers moved by Conor's search for the truth about his mother's illness.
Wolf Hollow
Lauren Wolk
Set in a rural 1943 community, this novel follows a girl facing cruelty and moral reckoning with a stillness and emotional depth that echo A Monster Calls. Its wise, wounded narrator will feel familiar.
Mythic and dreamlike tales
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
A boy raised among ghosts in a graveyard meets the living world on his own terms. Gaiman's blend of folklore, gentle menace and tender adoption themes matches the eerie, fable-like feel of A Monster Calls.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Kelly Barnhill
Witches, enchanted forests and an old, wise creature form a story about love and sacrifice. Its fable structure and blend of sorrow and hope will appeal to readers drawn to the monster's storytelling.
Howl's Moving Castle
Diana Wynne Jones
A cursed girl, a wizard and a fire demon make up a fairy tale with real wit and feeling beneath its surface. Readers who loved the monster's tales will enjoy the same blend of magic and moral seriousness.
Hard truths, gentle hope
Counting by 7s
Holly Goldberg Sloan
A gifted but isolated twelve-year-old faces sudden loss and rebuilds her sense of family. The book's warmth and grief sit side by side, much as they do in Conor's journey toward acceptance.
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
Death narrates a story of a girl in wartime Germany who finds comfort in words. Its tender prose and grief-soaked hope will resonate with anyone who loved how A Monster Calls uses storytelling to face pain.
Wonder
R. J. Palacio
A boy with a severe facial difference starts school and learns what courage and kindness really demand. Its emotional honesty and focus on a young protagonist's inner strength will appeal to fans of Conor's story.
Go deeper into hard history
Bog child
Siobhan Dowd
Written by the writer whose original idea inspired A Monster Calls, this novel follows a boy in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Its spare, moving voice and focus on truth and loss make it a natural next read.
Between Shades of Gray
Ruta Sepetys
A teenage girl is torn from her Lithuanian home during the Second World War and endures a brutal journey. Readers who were moved by Conor's struggle to face the truth will find the same resilience and courage here.
Holes
Louis Sachar
A boy wrongly sent to a harsh camp uncovers a mystery tied to the past in a story of unlikely connection. Its blend of sharp humour, buried history and hard-won courage echoes the strange, moving tone of A Monster Calls.
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