A Monster Calls

Ness, Patrick. A Monster Calls: Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd. 1st ed. Candlewick, 2011.
Awards
The American Library Association Booklist magazine named A Monster Calls the "Top of the List" for 2011 youth fiction and it won the 2011 Kitschies Red Tentacle award for speculative fiction, best novel published in the UK.  Ness and Kay won the 2012 Carnegie and Greenaway Medals for writing and illustration, year's best work published in the UK.A Monster Calls appeared on many "Best" lists by the Independent, the Chicago Sun Times, and the Wall Street Journal, and was short-listed for the Red House Children's Book Award and the Galaxy National Book Award.
Annotation: The monster that appeared at thirteen year old Conor's window, but it's not the creature that inhabits his dreams.  It wants something from Conor, and he's not sure if the reward outweighs the risks.

Thirteen old Conor’s mother has cancer.  To make matters worse, he has a persistent nightmare every night.  At seven minutes after midnight a voice calls to him from the graveyard.  The monster must tell him three stories.  In exchange Conor must tell the monster his nightmare.  At first the monsters stories seem innocent.  But as events progress the stories begin to affect his waking life.  Conor must confront the monster of cancer and death and the monster of the night. This is a highly original story that appeals to both teens and adults.