One of my goals for 2010 was to read at least 6 Newbery Award Winners. Brian and I drove to Tampa two weeks ago. For the car ride, I checked out several books from the library- a Nancy Drew, a Hardy Boys, two books by Francine Rivers, and A Graveyard Book. We listened to Unshaken by Francine, a great book based on the story of Ruth. Rivers goes in to incredible detail and helps you understand the background of where these men and women from God's Word are coming from. They are great "quick" reads. We also listened to The Hardy Boys #1- The Tower Treasure.
When we got home, I still had the 2 weeks to keep the other books, so I put The Graveyard Book in my CD player and listened every time I got in the car. The Graveyard Book is by Neil Gaiman and is the 2009 Newbery Award winner. It is a fantasy book about a boy who's entire family is murdered, but he escapes by luck. The boy finds himself in an old, abandoned cemetary where he is adopted by it's inhabitants and made at home. The story continues as the boy grows up and finds adventures both in and out of the cemetary.
I enjoyed the book, though it is not something I would normally be interested in. As I progressed through the book I started bringing my CD's in the house with me so I could listen while I was cooking or while Brian was playing Madden. The plot was dark, but kept you on the edge of your seat and was pretty entertaining. If you like older children's/ young adult books, you should read it, but I would probably look through it before suggesting it to a child.
Graduate school has started back and I already feel like I am in over my head, so it is back to the grindstone for me!
Have a wonderful evening my friends!
The Graveyard Book is in my amazon cart! I'm holding out for the paperback version! I also wanted to read Jellicoe Road which was another award winner last year. Thanks for the book suggestion!
ReplyDeleteThat does sound interesting!
ReplyDeleteNeil Gaiman is a fantastic writer/storyteller. I read a couple of his last year, but I haven't heard about this one yet. I'll have to check it out! Thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteI bought this book right after it came out and got halfway done before grad. school sucked me in and I didn't have time to finish! haha! Sounds like I need to pick it back up!
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