The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman, © 2008
children's fantasy; 300 pages
Neil Gaiman is the author of Coraline, Stardust, and The Sandman comic book series. Because these books are great, I was excited to read his newest book which is the 2009 Newberry Award winner. Well...the title of this post says it all.
Bod is orphaned as a young child when his whole family is mysteriously murdered. He escapes to a nearby cemetery where the ghosts agree to care for him. He is forced to stay in the safety of the graveyard because the killer, Jack, is still looking for him.
I disliked this book because i thought the characters were boring and the first interesting conflict Bod has to face doesn't happen until half-way through the book. To top it off, I was left without ever feeling a connection with Bod or any of the other characters and was ready to just be done with this book by the end.
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sad to hear this. i've found gaiman's books to be generally excellent, but I suppose he's bound to falter sometimes. I haven't read Coraline yet, but it's on the list. Have you read Neverwhere, Anansi Boys, or American Gods? I particularly liked Neverwhere and had good thoughts about Anansi Boys, but American Gods felt rote and bland. He also has a collection of short stories, Smoke and Mirrors, that has some good stuff in there. Perhaps the one drawback of his short stories is how dour they are - they feel like dark versions of the Grimm Brothers.
ReplyDeleteI have not read the books you listed. Coraline was excellent and is a book read to our kids in 4th grade. I'd like to check out Neverwhere and maybe bring back Gaiman as a favorite author.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you on the overall review. I loved the book- starting at chapter 5. I think 2-4 should have been left out, but once the reader gets to 5- it goes smoothly and is a quick read. I liked it more than Coraline, which I did not enjoy until I heard it on audio. Now, on the hand, I don't think many of my students (sixth graders) will read it next year, due to the start of the book. However, this will fall in line with most of the Newberry Winning books- picked by adults.
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