The Graveyard Book

I finished this morning and I must say that this little book has quickly become one of my "favorites of all time"; on this list I place the books that have evoked the strongest emotional reactions from me, stayed with me well after reading and whose stories are those I plan to revisit in the future. "The Graveyard Book" was pure magic. I was lucky enough to have picked it as an audio book and had the delight of hearing the author Neil Gaiman bring his creation to life. Nobody "Bod" Owens has quic   I finished this morning and I must say that this little book has quickly become one of my "favorites of all time"; on this list I place the books that have evoked the strongest emotional reactions from me, stayed with me well after reading and whose stories are those I plan to revisit in the future. "The Graveyard Book" was pure magic. I was lucky enough to have picked it as an audio book and had the delight of hearing the author Neil Gaiman bring his creation to life. Nobody "Bod" Owens has quickly become of my favorite characters. I loved his well-meaning, complicated, curious, heart of gold personality. I enjoyed growing with him through every life lesson, and adventuring with him through every nook and cranny of the graveyard. Through him I too had freedom of the graveyard! I loved the little details; for example, how Gaiman incorporated the prose on each inhabitants headstone when introducing them to the tale. In the audio version, I also appreciated the weaving of Danse Macabre's melody throughout the chapters- it was beautiful and created a richness to the spoken verse. I am certainly holding back in this review as I don't want to say too much. As with any of my true favorites I would rather others get the experience from start to finish without my bias impeding.  *** "After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own. Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family... Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages."