Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls brings together all of the fine literary things. Graphic depictions alongside poignant storytelling, with a backstory to the novel itself that brings both levity and authenticity, Ness's rendition of Siobhan Dowd's idea is truly depressing and beautiful. (I hope we have all read enough of or about this book to forgo a summary. If not, try here.)
This book scared the crap out of me. That said, I would love to see how this type of collaboration might influence young readers/artists! I apologize if I'm getting too off-topic for a book blog, but I am just too excited about how many types of summative assessments one could do with a book like this. Students could work together to create a comprehensive story, with narrative, images, even sound! Ross's book trailer definitely inspires an assortment of activities wherein students could awaken the monster of Conor's world -- through video, stop-animation, pictorial depiction, or even comic book format. Students could work individually or together to tell their own personal stories.The possibilities are awesomely limitless...because grown people decided to work together (without even meeting face-to-face). If that's not excellent modeling, I don't know what is.
I love your idea of using this book to inspire general artistry. I sometimes think of literature as a medium rather than an artform (you could talk about the ways to express a specific mood in different media: the book does both text and images, but Ross showed us how to do it in animation and with music). Books like this help me get back on track.
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