Okay, guys, let's do this with a bit less chaos than the last two ones.
INFO: "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, published 2008, with illustrations by Dave McKean. The book was a #1 New York Times bestseller and won several awards. It says ages 10 and up on the back cover but I'm seventeen and loved it and I'll probably give it to my Dad to read because he'll enjoy it. So, whatever.
SUMMARY: When his parents and older sister are killed by a mysterious man, a baby boy is adopted by two ghosts living in the graveyard opposite his house. They name him Nobody Owens and raise him as their son - together with the other graveyard inhabitants and Bod's guardian Silas. The Graveyard Book is the story of how Bod grows up and learns more and more about both the living and the dead world.
EXECUTION: Have any of you read Rudyard Kipling's "Stories From The Jungle Book"? Unlike the Disney film (which I also love), the book is more of a collection of short stories, a series of Mowgli's adventures in the jungle (and a few other stories) that sort of follow him growing up and having a family on his own. While reading The Graveyard Book I thought that it was very similar to Kipling's work, and Gaiman says in the acknowledgements that Kipling was a huge inspiration in the process of writing The Graveyard Book. With all the similarities, it's still sort of different but not any less beautiful and exciting. Along the course of the book you learn more and more about the world of the dead and the supernatural (like ghouls and witches and some sort of werewolves) but you also watch Bod learn about the world of the living and about how he came to the graveyard and why. The book is completely coherent and the system works really well.
STYLE: Neil Gaiman writes beautifully. For those who don't know, he wrote the Doctor Who episodes "The Doctor's Wife" (S06 E04) and "Nightmare in Silver" (S07 E12), both of which were among the best episodes in the last three seasons. In The Graveyard Book he somehow manages to combine a certain "adult" poetry in his writing and Bod's (very authentic) childish perspective on life which changes ever so gently as he grows up. There were more than a few sentences or paragraphs that made me think "Wow. If I could write like that...". He's simply brilliant. And he has a way of playing with certain words or phrases that just makes me admire him. You can feel when reading how much this story meant to the author, and in my opinion, that's definitely a good thing.
MESSAGE: This is a coming-of-age story. It's about Bod growing up and finding out who he is and who he wants to be. He finds his courage and makes some mistakes and he's afraid and everything. This story shows how difficult it is to grow up and make your own decisions but it's also about parents. It's about loving someone and having to let that someone go, and not wanting to let them go but deep down knowing it has to be. When I finished reading, I had this sort of feeling that you want to cry but can't because it's so sweet and strange and beautiful.
ALSO: Neil Gaiman won the Newbery Medal for The Graveyard Book. His acceptance speech is printed in the end of the book, and in addition to being sort of funny and smart and beautiful it also inspired me like crazy. This speech made me want to follow my dream and tell stories and make things up and make people happy with my stories. It also sort of taught me about why I love the books I love so much, and both the speech and the actual story stayed with me after I closed the book. I think I will read The Graveyard Book many, many times in the future.
CONCLUSION: This is not a book for pure entertainment. This is one of those books that you read when you feel lonely, or sad, or when you need someone to talk to and there's nobody there. It's a soulbook like chocolate is soulfood. This is a book for children and teens and adults. It's wonderful.
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