Twelve-year-old Conor O'Malley must face his mother's terminal illness, his strict grandmother, his estranged father and the school bully, Harry. One night at 12:07 a.m., Conor is visited by the tree-like Monster, who tells Conor it has to come to tell him three true stories, after which Conor must tell the Monster his own story: the truth behind his nightmare, which Conor refuses to do.