This may just be the quickest turn around time I’ve had on a book in ages.  I picked up The Graveyard Book just after Christmas at Chapters.   I’ve been intending to buy it forever, not sure what spurred me on this time, but regardless…

I read almost everything Neil writes.  And this is a man who has quite an array of work.  From graphic novels (Sandman) to picture books (The Day I Sold My Dad for Two Goldfish), adult books (American Gods, Neverwhere) to youth books (Coraline).

So, despite the fact that The Graveyard Book is meant to be for the 9-12 set, I was excited to read it.  It did not disappoint. TGB is the story of Nobody “Bod” Owens, a boy raised in a graveyard by the ghosts who live there.  It’s a neat idea — the kind of idea that makes me jealous, really.

The funny thing about TGB is the fact that so very much of the focus could be on the coolness and weirdness of life in a graveyard, but it’s not.  The focus is on Bod and his relationships with the “people” who care for him. Neil writes these moments rather fantastically.  He has a was of writing these relationships that are so incredibly touching, but so incredibly subtle at the same time.  I wish I could do that.  There are so many of these moments in TGB.

TGB is a short book, a rather quick read.  So while at times it seems like the plot is moving rather quickly, I think this is a function of the book being aimed at kids.  Attention span, etc. etc.

There was one other interesting aspect of TGB was the fact that I got to “follow along” as the book was written.  Neil keeps a regular internet presence, with a blog, a Twitter account, and a Goodreads account.  While he was writing TGB he made several comments on his blog about the process, what chapter he was on, how he felt about where the story was, etc.  It was very neat to see this aspect of story writing.

I highly reccommend TGB for both adults and children.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Books, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.