by Neil Gaiman
ages: 10+
First sentence: “There was a hand in the darkness and it held a knife.”
This book has been read by practically everyone (if you haven’t read it, why not?), and I don’t have much to add. So, some not-so-random thoughts (since everyone else has written a review of it):
I agree with those (like Natasha, most recently) who don’t like the cover or the illustrations. I’m not sure they added much to the book. And they just kind of weird. In cases like this, I’d much rather leave everything up to my imagination.
That said, I did like the story. It helped knowing it was patterned after Jungle Book; the pacing is a bit weird, and I think it would have bothered me if I didn’t know it was a conscious decision on Gaiman’s part to write it that way. But knowing that, I was able to put aside my irritations when they cropped up (which wasn’t often).
That said, I loved the story. I loved the intensity of the first and second-to-last chapters. During those, at least, I couldn’t put the book down. I loved Bod and the life that Gaiman imagined for him in the graveyard, including his relationships with the ghosts and Silas. There were moments of just pure wonderfulness, as well as small touches (loved the gravestones), throughout the novel.
I’m still trying to decide if it’s the best fantasy I’ve read in a while, or even if it deserves the Newbery. I think so, if only because it’s so different from anything else. Granted, different doesn’t always mean good, but in this case, I think different is unique and interesting. Which is really the best way to describe Gaiman’s work.
And this is no exception.
The Book Nut 
I’ve heard good things about this one, but I’m waiting until I finish <>Coraline<> to decide whether to read it.–Anna< HREF="http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Diary of an Eccentric<>
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Now, Anna, you shouldn’t decide whether or not to read this one based on Coraline. I know a lot of people LOVED that book; I didn’t. If I had decided about this book based on that one, I wouldn’t have read it. But, I did, and I’m glad I did. I liked it much better than Coraline. Just so you know. 🙂
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books give away!!!go to: benedicthome.blogspot.com
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I can answer why I haven’t read this yet. My son grabbed it first so need to wait for him to finish it first. If he doesn’t hurry up though I thnk we might have to share it and use two bookmarks! Lol
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I’m looking forward to reading this..can’t wait.
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I really liked this book, but whether or not I would give it the Newbery is hard for me to determine. I really can’t honestly decide without reading everything else and I didn’t read everything else. It was good, though.
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It’s definitely different than most Newbery award winners. I hope that it will be more accessible to kids. When I think back on the Newberys, some I loved but most I just felt like I had to read because of a class assignment. The Graveyard Book definitely falls into the Love category for me. 🙂
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I have no idea when I’ll get to this one, but I haven’t read an actual “bad” review yet 🙂
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Thanks for letting me know. So far I’m enjoying <>Coraline<>, though. 🙂–Anna< HREF="http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Diary of an Eccentric<>
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I really liked this one, even more than Coraline, but you’re right, the artwork didn’t do much for me, either. In fact, I remembered one that bothered me just a bit – in the book, Bod is described as wearing a a grey shroud but in one of the nearby illustrations, he is shown wearing normal clothes.
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