OOoo Scary

When I first picked up Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book I immediately thought to myself, "do not go cliche, this will not be 'the scary book.'"  And for the first 3/4 of the book-it wasn't.  Oh this is a book about a boy who's family is murdered when he is a toddler but he runs away and is given the protection of the graveyard and raised by ghosts.  (It sounds kinda terrible when described like that-but I promise its actually a delight to read) But, and I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, I actually gasped out loud towards the end.  And when I say gasp I mean audible sharp intake of air with a little tone almost like a scream.  It got SCARY. 

But that's not to say that this book is inappropriate for children.  While I'm all for preserving the innocence of childhood I think we underestimate kids and think they are these fragile little beings when really they have big minds in little bodies and they can take a little scary.  Especially when the scary is so beautifully resolved as in The Graveyard Book.  

 See it even looks scary

I don't have any quotables for this book.  Typically when I am reading for the blog I have a pack of post-its next to me and I mark passages that I know I will mention on the blog.  For those of you who have been reading you know these are typically humorous anecdotes or a couple of sentences that really get at the heart of the book (well at least I hope they do).  When I say The Graveyard Book doesn't have any quotables I don't mean it doesn't have masterful dialogue, and a gripping narrative (the kind that gets you sucked in so you forget where you are and actually gasp out loud because you are so engrossed in the story) it just doesn't have any one liners.  The book is a whole and as a whole it is fantastic. 

I feel like I should say more about the book, give you some detail, more of a glimpse into what happens. But I won't because I don't want to ruin it.  I had all kinds of preconceived notions about this book and to be honest I didn't want to read it because I didn't think I would like it.  Instead I was captivated by the story of young Nobody Ownes and I couldn't put the book down.  Seriously, I missed phone calls. 

Getting sucked into a story so much so that you actually feel the fear of the characters...that's kids stuff.