Conor, awake at 12:07, is visited by a monster at his window.

Not the monster from his recurring nightmare, not quite. This one has walked out of the yew tree beyond the house, all branches, shadow, bark and ancient fury, and it has come to tell him three stories. In return, Conor must tell the fourth: the truth he cannot say aloud.

Written from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, and illustrated by Jim Kay in a style that feels half ink, half grief-smoke, this is one of those rare books marketed toward younger readers that does not condescend to them for a second. It understands that children are not spared terror by being young; they are simply given fewer words for it. Conor is dealing with his mother’s illness, his grandmother’s authority, school cruelty, adult helplessness, and the unbearable fact that grief can produce feelings so ugly they seem impossible to admit.

A genuinely good crossover novel: dark, spare, emotionally brutal without getting syrupy, and visually excellent. For readers who like folklore, grief, illustrated fiction, morally complicated children, and books that know the real monster is rarely the thing with claws. The tree is just the delivery system. Very rude of it, frankly, but effective.

Walker Books paperback edition, published 2012; first published 2011. Text by Patrick Ness, from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, with illustrations by Jim Kay. Illustrated throughout in black and white. General shelf wear, visible creasing and rubbing to the cover, with a more pronounced crease/mark to the lower front corner; pages clean and intact.