The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

Safe for all readers - contain themes of death and murder

I have procrastinated reading this book, and put off reading this book, and pretended I'd never heard of this book. But I could not escape it. It was on every blog, every award posting, every reviews list, it was everywhere. At first i wanted to read it because it sounded like it was about a book, and well I'm all over that. But when ever I'd read a summary, it just didn't seem to catch me. You ever just 'don't feel like it' with a book? Finally I caved. And NO its not about a book. In fact it takes from "The Jungle Book" title theme. And the book its self follows the same plotesque kind of feel. (yes i made up that word). And now that I'm done I have to say it endeared me to it. Like cuddling up with a warm fire. I love when authors think outside the box, and try something new, and Neil accomplished that.

This is a story of Bod, short for Nobody. His parents were murdered when he was a tot, but he escaped by wandering out of the house at just the right time, and wandering into a grave yard, where the ghost residents adopted him and gave him 'freedom of the graveyard' which means he can fade, haunt, pass through, see in the dark, etc just like anyone else 'residing' in the graveyard. He has a guardian who provides food, and other ghosts teach him. (mind you most of them lived hundreds of years ago) Bod is also protected by the graveyard as the man who murdered his family is still out there looking for him. I love how Bod just like Mowgli is more comfortable as a ghost than a little boy. He is always aware though that he is just a little different, and longs to find out the ways of the real world. It's fun to meet all the different ghosts personalities and the culture of the graveyard. It was a good time.