The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is the story of Bod, short for Nobody Owens, who grows up in the graveyard near his home after the murder of his family. His best friends are ghosts and his guardian is neither living nor dead and he can never leave the graveyard or "the man called Jack" will come for him.

I have been wanting to read this for awhile now since I have loved all of Gaiman's other novels, but it seems that some other book always got in the way of this one. Finally, last night I finished The Path of Daggers and decided today would be the day I would sit down with this book. I started a little after 9 this morning and finished at 5:30 this evening. This includes, of course, my many trips to the computer to play games on Pogo or write emails or check Facebook (which for some reason can take a surprising amount of time). Even at 305 pages it is a very quick read, since it is written for middle schoolers. I loved that, in spite of writing for a specific audience, Gaiman does not talk down to the reader. At no point did I get that sense of "irritating teacher talk." This is what I call the way some adults talk to children when they don't really know how to talk to children. And the only point when I felt Gaiman was over explaining things was when Bod's friend Scarlett talks about deja vu, but then when I reminded myself that the intended audience for this book might not really know deja vu, then it didn't feel over explained at all.

What really grabbed me in this book was Bod. He's an amazing character and I really want to see more of him. I am hoping Gaiman writes a sequel to this. There are a couple things that feel not very well explained and have that sense of "you'll find out later" as if there are supposed to be more books. I also very much loved the relationship between Silas and Bod. I want to read more of it! In fact, I was so sure, based on the way the book ended and the details that were not completely explained, that there must be a sequel planned. I was so sure that I searched for it and low and behold I found this on an FAQ page on Gaiman's Mouse Circus  site:


Q: Could you write a sequel to THE GRAVEYARD BOOK? I just finished it and I want more!
A: I will, yes, but it will go to very different places—and it may not get back to the Graveyard.

YAYYYY! I don't when but some day I will again get to read about Bod, and maybe find out if my suspicions on Silas are correct.
Near the beginning of the book one passage made me just giggle out loud, in spite of the terrible things happening in the scene. Bod is just a baby, a little more than a year old and the man Jack is in the house killing his family. Bod, unaware of this, wakes to a noise and is bored in his crib so he decides to climb out:

He landed with a muffled thump on a small mound of furry, fuzzy toys, some of them presents from relations from his first birthday, not six months gone, some of them inherited from his older sister. He was surprised when he hit the floor, but he did not cry out: if you cried they came and put you back in your crib.

Why was this funny to me? Because it is exactly what my sister's son did either about this age or a little younger. I actually think he might have been a little younger. Except there was nothing to soften his fall. And he landed on his head. And he seemed very proud of himself. 

Another thing that got me was how unimportant life must seem to someone who grows up in a cemetery surrounded by people who have already died and are happy as ghosts. Why would he care if the man called Jack killed him? And in fact, Gaiman addresses this:

Bod shrugged. "So?" he said. "It's only death. I mean, all of my best friends are dead." 

I won't ruin it and give Silas' response to this but it's good. Read this book. You will love it, no matter your age.

Audio: The Cabinet Of Wonders

I have found something to fill the void left by the ending of Harry Potter!! I picked up the audio version of The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski recently at Half-Price Books because I was out of things to listen to in the car and thought, "Hmmm, sounds kinda interesting."

Petra Kronos has a simple happy life. but it's never been ordinary. She has a tin spider...who likes to hide in her snarled hair. Her best friend can trap lightning inside a glass sphere. Petra also has a father in faraway Prague who is able to move metal with his mind...Petra's life is forever changed when, one day, her father returns home - blind. The prince has stolen his eyes, enchanted them, and wears them. But why?
Petra doesn't know, but she know this: she will go to Prague, sneak into Salamander castle, and steal her father's eyes back.

This book is supposedly written for children but (and maybe this is because it was being read to me) I didn't feel like it was a "children's novel." What I mean is that I think adults would enjoy this book too (as many of them did with Harry Potter). I'm not sure if the author meant to write a book for children or she was simply writing a book that, when finished, was so easily aimed at children. This is her debut novel (unfortunately the next book isn't out yet, booooo) so I'm not sure if she is solely an author of children's fiction. What I do know is that I loved this book. I have picked up a few other "children's novels" in the past and felt the author was talking down to the audience, as if he didn't expect children to understand him. This is not the case in this book. The language is not above a child's head but it is also not "talking down." I think that is a hard thing to do for most people. It was only 7 hours of audio (unabridged) so I'm sure the book is a fairly quick read. Pick it up and read it soon! The next book in the series, The Kronos Chronicles, will be out in August.