Carnegie Medal: Patrick Ness book A Monster Calls scoops double honours

Patrick Ness's novel A Monster Calls has won both the prestigious Carnegie Medal and its sister prize for illustration for the first time in the awards' history. A Monster Calls tells the story of a boy coming to terms with his mother's battle against cancer. It is the second consecutive Carnegie win for Ness, whose Monsters of Men took the prize in 2011. Ness described the win as "extremely humbling - and a little unnerving". For the first time, the same book won the Kate Greenaway Medal for book illustration, with Jim Kay picking up the prize at a ceremony at the Barbican in London on Thursday. The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are awarded annually to a book for young people by Cilip: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals