The Graveyard Book: 2009 Newbery Medal Winner

The beginning of March 2014 I started a new undertaking: reading every single Newbery Medal Winner book.  A number of them I have read in the past, but I am reading them with fresh eyes,and reviewing them for others. I am not reading them in order, as some will require some effort on my part to find them all.  Want to keep track of which books I read?  Check them out at Confessions of a Wannabe Reader!

Cover of the book - The image is used for identification purposes only under the fair use clause.

Nobody Owens: The Living Boy 

‟I know my name,‟ he said.  ‟I'm Nobody Owens.  That's who I am."

A toddler wanders through a graveyard, oblivious to the fact that he is the only one of his family still alive, oblivious to the evil that pursues him.  For nearly fifteen years, Nobody, nicknamed Bod, lives in an old London cemetery.  He is the only living soul, raised by the otherworldly inhabitants as their own.  He is taught basic skills such as reading and writing and history, as well as ghostly skills of fading and haunting.  He discovers the ways of the living and prepares to deal with the evil that stalks him with the help of his ghost parents, the friends of the graveyard, and his mysterious guardian, Silas, who lives in the dark. 

This book was unlike any children's book that I have ever read.  The ghost stories alone would have given me nightmares as a child.  The first chapter has a grisly murder scene in it, making this book a book that is not for the faint of heart, but a great story for anyone who loves suspense and fantasy.  I did enjoy this story immensely.  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman utterly fascinated me with its supernatural aspects and its descriptions of the characters as well as its original storyline.  The story is about wanting to belong; Bod wants to belong with his ghost family as well as with humans, while each of the ghosts wish they had ways of belonging when they were alive.