Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens lives in an old graveyard. Lives is the operative word. When he was two his family was killed by a Jack, but by chance Bod survived and was protected by the ghosts in the graveyard. Every time he leaves he invites danger and the possibility that Jack will return and finish what he started in his infancy.

This is one of the more interesting concepts I've come across in ages. I never read Gaiman (Coraline, Stardust) when I was younger and wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. Nobody, Bod for short, was a boy full of life. His livelihood pops against the majority of the people he came across, seeing as how most were dead. The dead all had their amusing stories and snippets of advice that everyone could use. I was a bit hesitant about picking up a book with pictures and was glad to see a visualization of ghosts done in a formful way. Once again I've found that not all YA/Children material is actually written for children. In short The Graveyard Book was a suspenseful, heartwarming story that left me with the advice to "leave no path un-taken". Would have been worth spending the $17 on, but I got it from the CPL.

My Rating
4/5



Also, My ratings have been higher than normal lately and I'm chalking this up to the amazing reviews I've been reading over on livejournal and all a dash of luck.

2 comments:

Audrey (holes In My brain) said...

I love the advice of "leave no path un-taken". Just because of that I might just have to read this one :) I thought Coraline was just so-so though. nice review!

Kelly said...

I've been wanting to read this for a while, I really must get around to it!