Newbery Medal Book Review #1 - The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book
By Neil Gaiman
2009 Newbery Medal Book

While searching through all of the Newbery Medal books to find which to buy I found this one the most recent winner. The description of the book intrigued me because I am a sucker for a scary story. As my stack of books arrived at my door I was most excited to read this one. As I began reading I first thought this book was exactly what I was looking for, but after the first few pages the book turned from a scary story to more of a story about a young boy's journey and attitude about life while being raised by ghosts in the graveyard.

The story begins by a man killing a family in their house. The young baby (main character) escapes the house before he is too killed. The boy ends up in the graveyard and sees the ghosts there. This ghost man and wife see the boy's mother who was just killed and she asks the couple to take care of her son for her. The ghosts of the graveyard vote and end up allowing this young boy who they named Nobody or "Bod" for short to be raised by the ghost couple (Mr. & Mrs. Owens) . The book explores Bod's adventures that he has throughout his upbringing in the graveyard. In the end, Bod leaves the graveyard to be able to experience life.

This author was inspired by the story "The Jungle Book," where the young boy was raised by animals. This book also reminds me of the movie, "Elf," where the young baby is raised by elves in the North Pole with Santa. The boy learns and lives his life just as the elves do but yet he is unable to preform all of the same tasks as them, he knows he is different. He also feels different when he is with his own kind because he was not raised the way they were. The story of "The Graveyard Book" is very similar in those ways.

His adventures were not scary, just strange, or shall I say different. I think this book won this award because it is so much different than any other story you've ever read. Even though the story is so far fetched I think that students will be able to relate to Bod. Students (ages 9-12) may also feel like they are so different from their parents and/or the people around them. The fantasy in this book will also appeal to and keep young readers interested.