BOOK REVIEW

by Papa

Title: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Recommended Age: 8+

Pages: 307

Time: About 10 days

Rating: 8/10

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite graphic novelists.  His Sandman series is truly a masterpiece as many people will agree - even those who don't ordinarily read comic books.  He started writing novels several years ago and I admit that I thought he was better at graphic novels until Stardust, which is one of my favorite books.  Now, with The Graveyard Book, I think he captured a younger crowd with a great story and beautiful writing.  The story is about a toddler boy who loses his family and winds up being raised in a graveyard by ghosts and a mysterious being named Silas.  His family was murdered and he is renamed Nobody Owens to hide from the killer who is still on the loose.  Nobody, or "Bod" for short, must learn everything about life from a community that isn't alive.

The Graveyard Book starts off incredibly dark.  Then, it kind of starts over and goes slowly reaching a perfect climax toward the end.  I thought the pacing of the book was really well done.  The characters are interesting - especially Silas - and the setting of the graveyard makes for unusual, and often humorous, scenes.

Favorite Thing: In Chapter Six "Nobody Owens' School Days" Nobody learns that his family was murdered and he says that the question shouldn't be who will keep him safe from the murderer, it's who will keep the murderer safe from him.

Least Favorite Thing: I think the last chapter was a little abrupt and I guess I wanted a little more.  I can't say much more than that.

Questionable Material for Kids: The first chapter is quite dark and I could see it being scary.