How good is this story?!

The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaimon @neilhimself

Illustrator: Chris Riddell @chrisriddell50

Published by: Bloomsbury @KidsBloomsbury

Published on: 1st October 2008

ISBN: 978 0 7475 9480 2 £7.99

First line: There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.

Genre: Murder, mystery, supernatural

Age: 10+

What’s it all about? A baby’s family is killed in the opening section of the book (be careful what class you read this to), and the baby, miraculously, makes its way to a safe haven, where the local people agree to look after him and keep him safe…but it’s a graveyard. The reader follows the boys as he grows up, surrounded by kindly, but dead people, and as he yearns to know more about where he comes from and the reason why he is stuck in a graveyard. Along the way he makes mistakes, like any young person, but his guardian, the mysterious Silas, is always there for support and the mystery slowly unravels in beautiful prose along with Chris Riddell’s beautiful drawings.

Why should I read it? Now, this was a book that was sitting on my tbr for a long time. I’d heard about it from various sources, been intrigued by both the blurb and the front cover, but never had the time to read. How I regret that now! Quite, simply, one of the best books I have ever read. That’s the only reason you need, to answer the question: why should I read it.