The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

Summary: Once, on a very dark, sad night, a man named Jack stabbed and killed an entire family--except for one. He missed the baby, who had wandered out of the house and down the road to the local graveyard. Mr. and Mrs. Owens find the child, but here's the catch: they've been dead for a very long time. When the frantic ghosts of the baby's newly-dead parents plead with the Owens' to protect their child, they decide to adopt him and raise him in the graveyard. They can't decide on a name, so call him Nobody Owens, Bod for short. The Owens, along with his mysterious "guardian" Silas, do a fine job raising Bod, and try their best to keep him from leaving the graveyard. It is quickly revealed that Jack is not finished looking for Bod, and still wants to kill him. Bod is a curious, intelligent child, and has lots of adventures in the graveyard, ranging from hilarious to downright scary.

My thoughts: The 2009 Newbery Medal Winner! This book has several pen and ink illustrations, which I think is a cool addition to many young adult novels. These illustrations truly add to the story. I think this book is a definite improvement over the Newbery choices in the past few years. While this isn't my favorite Gaiman book, it's well-written, original, and fun.