The Graveyard Book by Neil GaimanBritt's review
Rating: 5 of 5 starsThe Newbery committee did a wonderful job in choosing this book to be their winner for this year. It was fantastic. Gaiman creates a world so out of the box and yet so completely believable and acceptable that throughout the book I found myself thinking it wouldn’t be so bad growing up in a graveyard with a bunch of ghosts for family.
The story is about Nobody Owens (Bod), an orphan of a murdered family who finds safety from his family’s murderer within the gates of the old graveyard. As Bod grows up in the graveyard, he learns many lessons and skills that help him navigate the joys and pitfalls of youth.
I fell in love with Nobody and his graveyard family. Gaiman does a great job creating relevant, endearing, and interesting characters. I even admit to getting teary at the end of this book and find myself wanting more.
There were a couple times in the book where I was a bit irritated because I didn’t understand what was going on. However, it didn’t necessarily feel like a hole that the writer had created because he didn’t know how to write all the pieces together. It was more like I didn’t understand because I’m not well read. I’m not sure if the answers to these moments in the book could be found in other forms of literature, i.e. the classics, mythology, history, etc. But that Gaiman is able to create this feeling in readers is practically genius.
Read, read, read this book! Content was appropriate for all ages, though younger readers may find some parts scary.
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4 comments:
So if Bo is afraid of King Triton, he shouldn't read this right?
Yeah, it's pretty safe to say that Bowen would not enjoy this novel.
One of the members of the Newberry committee was at a conference I attended and talked about the process of nominating books and how there had been so many people upset by the Newberry picks in the past. He said they felt pretty good when they announced this book as the winner and the entire crowd cheered. I have got to get my hands on this and read it very soon.
Tasha - Michael O'Tunnel's lecture is one I would have LOVED to attend. I took a class from him at BYU. He knows his children's literature. I really think you'll like this book.
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