This may well be the most remarkable book I have ever read for healthybooks. A well-deserved winner of both the Carnegie and Greenaway Awards (and the first time this has happened in the history of both awards) it is the intensely moving story of a young lad, Conor, whose mother is dying of cancer. The fact that neither she nor Conor will admit that this is the case means that he is isolated, scared and very angry. He is also having terrible nightmares, always the same one, and one night he sees a monster - not the one in the nightmares, but one made from the yew tree on the hill behind his house. This monster comes to help Conor, but his help is of a most unusual kind, and it takes a long time for Conor to realise that he must admit to himself and to his mother that he knows what is happening, that he knows the truth. He becomes destructive and hurtful to those around him, including a school bully and his grandmother, a not very likeable character initially. His dad has disappeared to California with a new family, and while he comes back during his ex wife's last days, he is of little help. Conor feels he needs to be punished for something that isn't clear until the end of the book, but the monster helps him to understand by telling him stories - stories that seem backward in meaning, but make him understand how complicated life is. The whole book is intensely poignant, made more so by the remarkable black and white illustrations. Bleak and lonely in their intensity, they add immeasurably to what is a great book. While the story is a sad one, there is also hope. Conor is the monster and the monster is Conor, and at this point in Conor's life, he needs to be both. Outstanding.