Written by Keertana Vemuri, Youth Medical Forum Leader
You were merely wishing for the end of pain, the monster said. Your own pain. An end to how it isolated you. It is the most human wish of all.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness follows Connor, a young boy whose mom has cancer, and who struggles to come to terms with her impending death as he begins to be visited by a monster at night. This short read sprung from an idea penned by author Siobhan Dowd, who died of cancer before she could set it into motion. Patrick Ness eventually picked up her idea and spun it into, "a Monster Calls," which is an incredible examination of grief, love and guilt.
Personally, I go back to this book as my comfort book. Despite its heart wrenching subject matter, it got me through a point in time in my life where I was dealing with something similar to Connor, and to this day, I constantly go back to it as a reminder of the people I want to help through Medicine.
In their lifetime, 1 in 2 people will develop cancer; yearly, an estimated 9.5 million people die of it. As someone in the medical field, there are many instances where one will have to face loss. This book is a great depiction of the human side of illnesses, while still offering hope for the ones we leave behind.
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