A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd) is this Generation's A Bridge to Terabithia

"A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness, is this generation's "A Bridge to Terabithia".   The story is about a boy named Conner who is struggling to accept that his mother is dying of cancer.  One night a monster visits him, but he is not afraid because he has been expecting a different kind of monster that is something much worse.  This monster says it will tell Conner three stories, but in return it wants a fourth story, something dark and terrible.  It wants the truth.

The book is even more poignant because of the fact that it was based on an idea from Siobhan Dowd, an award-winning British author who died of breast cancer at the age of 47.  She continued to write during the last years of her life, but she did not have enough time to turn her last idea into a book.  

Patrick Ness had never even met Siobhan Dowd, but they had the same literary editor.  Normally he would not have agreed to turn someone else's idea into a book, but her idea spoke to him.  In the "Author's Note" at the front of the book, he says he wrote the book with a single guideline:  to write a book he thought Siobhan would have liked.  

Be forewarned that this book will move you to tears.  As Conner faces his truth, you will find yourself having to face your own.  Reading this book is a journey that will forever become a part of you.