I have been reading The Graveyard Book, written by Neil Gaiman.  It is a very entertaining novel about a boy who has been living in a graveyard for almost the whole of his life; this boy can speak to ghosts and enter their graves. In the novel you follow Bod (Nobody Owens) through his adventures in the Graveyard, until he must leave and the magic he has learned from his guardian, Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, begins fading. Bod, because he has been growing and getting older, must now enter the living world and begin a new life there.

I enjoyed reading this novel greatly. It is relaxing and easy to read with not much difficult language, however I don’t think it should have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Award, because I just didn’t think it was as good as some of the other books I have read, which haven’t been shortlisted. I was quite disappointed with the ending of the novel; it would be interesting to find out how the rest of Bod’s life turns out in the living world, compared to his life in a graveyard and seeing how he copes in the living worlds.

I would recommend this novel for children 11 or younger.