The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman (With Illustrations by Dave McKean) Book Review by Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-0-06-053094-5 With tears in my eyes, I sit down to write this review. So, spoiler alert, Neil Gaiman really tugs at your heart strings with this one. The Graveyard Book was an interesting and emotional novel. I expected great things from a book with a Newbery Medal stamped on the cover and a large Bookstore chain pushing it on all their tables and shelves. *cough* Barnes and Noble *cough*, I wouldn’t say I was let down, just surprised by the way it played out. But hey, how typical can a story about a boy being raised in a graveyard really be, right? The story begins with a triple homicide, just your average everyday fairy tale. (I make myself laugh.) And immediately your attention is focused, you’re both on the edge of your seat and probably laughing. A man, who, let’s just say is an assassin (for lack of a better description) has killed the parents and sister of an 18 month old baby. That’s a pretty intense seen to open a book with, right? And it’s even crazier to think that this man who just skillfully took out more than half of a family unit, is having trouble taking out a toddler. Who, hilariously enough, had ‘toddled’ away. Pay attention to that baby because you are about to fall in love with him. After escaping near death, he finds himself surrounded and embraced by death in the graveyard up the hill from his home. “It takes a graveyard to raise a child”(an actual quote but I can’t for the life of me find the page). The baby is saved by the ghosts of the graveyard who promise to raise and protect him as their own. He is given the name, Nobody. Which was one of the reasons I thought this book seemed so enchanting when I saw it sitting in a bookstore. A character named Nobody? That’s very unique! Nobody Owens is a very special character, he is honest, tough, boardline unapologetic, and yet absolutely lovable and relatable. The graveyard itself is his home, but as the story progresses, you really start to see it as a metaphor for his childhood and somehow that makes him all the more relatable. Moving on, let’s get down to all the things you can expect from this novel. Ghost parents and their community of the dead. Plus Silas, a vampire-like guardian who watches over Nobody bringing him food and finding him the things he needs, including teachers. There are also werewolves, ancient beings, ghoul cities, witches, and so much more. The Lady on the Grey, special abilities, and secret organizations. All this and a killer who waits somewhere out in the world beyond the gates of the graveyard. The story starts with Bod, short for Nobody, at 18 months old and progresses all the way through until he is about 15. The story is a bit slow. It’s really the most unimpressive part, personally. I WILL SAY that around page 200 it kicks up the pace and really starts forming a story. The beginning is slower with more chapters that could pass for small stories. Though, looking back each one had its importance to the ending as well as getting to know our little Nobody. Subsequently, to survive in the graveyard Bod most learn the ways of the dead. This means he must learn how to use their abilities, seeing in the dark, fading so that he cannot be seen, and many more. There are plenty of adventures to behold in the graveyard, but also very important lessons and dangers. And besides all that, being that the ghosts are all from the Victorian era or earlier they have a far different code of etiquette. This causes the graveyard appears to be in a more Victorian London setting, however, in the world around the graveyard there are cell phones, computers, and all the modern day things we’re used to. It was such a fascinating take on how different the world can be from one home to another. But since Bod is actually alive, he must also learn what it means to be a boy in this time period. It’s difficult for the ghosts and his guardian to find a balance between keeping him where he is safe and letting him spread his wings. More things that you can easily relate to. After all, isn’t that what parents deal with everyday? By the end of the book Bod has learned many hard lessons, but still he has a zest for life. He has been someone’s ‘imaginary friend’, learned a little about love, what it means to defend where he’s from, and even not being quick to judge. With all Bod has mastered by the time he’s 15, which, despite all the modern technology, is still apparently considered an adult in this time frame, what will his future hold? There’s thrilling adventure and tough life lessons on every page. What I will say is that the more I think back on all that I’ve read the more I appreciate the book. True, I am not a fan of slow novels, yet I appreciate all that Neil Giaman created in this novel, in compacting 14 years of life and mysteries into a little over 300 pages. The ending left me in tears and yet completely full of hope. Not what I expected, but I’m glad I read it beginning to end. Links to Giaman's various sites are below as well as a link to Dave McKean's website!
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Wait Till Helen Comes
By Mary Downing Hahn Book Review by Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-0-545-10365-7 So, there’s a good chance that if you’re reading this review it is because you are following my Month of Halloween book review segment. Every week I am posting a review on a book that fits the Halloween season. Last one I did, was also by Hahn, Closed For the Season was a murder mystery that similar to this one I have published under Fiction, but would like to remind my readers that you may actually find this novel under the children's section or young adult. And unlike the last Hahn novel, this one is not about murder, but an actual ghost story! Exactly what I was hoping for! Once again bringing up images of Betty Ren Wright’s ghost novels from Apple Paperback. [Those were some of the best summers I ever spent reading, thank you Betty, may you rest in peace.] Wait Till Helen Comes is an eerily fun novel that will probably make the hair on the back of your neck stand up once or twice. And honestly, not even so much from the ghost herself. You see, our story focuses around a small blended family, our main female character, Molly, her little brother, Micheal, and their mother Jean. They have a stepfather named Dave and a little-stepsister named Heather. Heather is the reason your hair will surely stand up on the back of your neck. If you have a little sibling who, at any point in time, made you contemplate running away from everything out of sheer frustration, you may find yourself picturing them as the creepy anger-inducing little sister in this novel. [Shout out to my own little sister, I imaged your angry face more than once while reading this story. I LOVE YOU]. This blended family decides to move out of the city and into the country where the parents can focus on their art and the kids will surely be safe from all the big city dangers. Well, they probably got that part right, but what about the dangers lurking in their own backyard? No, not wolves, snakes, or children of the corn, but the fear-inducing cemetery just behind their new home. I mean, you have three young children and you bought a house with an over one hundred year old graveyard in the backyard, what could possibly go wrong?! Coincidentally the already trouble causing, impossible to love, little sister, begins to get worse and worse. With every fight that she causes her twisted smile burns like a nightmare into the back of your mind. She constantly sets her new siblings up to take the blame and pleads innocent to her father, who is too blind to see the truth. As if that’s not bad enough young Heather has befriended a ghost and she is far from shy about it. She warns Molly and Micheal almost every day, “Just wait till Helen comes. You’ll be sorry then…” (109) Of course, only Molly seems to believe her and can’t shake the feeling that something is very very wrong. As usual with a haunting things tend to get worse the stronger the being grows. And with all the affection from Heather, and tension to feed off from her family, Helen soon becomes visible. Not only can Molly sense her, but she has seen her with her own eyes and knows the horrors that await. For everyone else in the novel the discussion seems to be around the fear of death, or rather the fear of what happens to you when you die. I actually really enjoyed that Hahn took the time to put more thought into this novel than just someone being afraid of a ghost. Death is not an easy topic or something to think about when it comes to children, but honestly adults don’t always handle it that much better. And since Heather is no stranger to death already, having lost her mother at a young age, a ghost for a friend probably seems perfectly normal. But as Molly begins to investigate in order to keep Heather safe, things start getting drastically out of hand. Ultimately time is running out for their blended coexistence as tension runs high and Helen puts her plans into action. Is there any hope for this family? And what will you make of Heather, so angry and hateful for a seven year old girl? Can Molly conquer her own fears and stop Heather from doing something that cannot be undone? There are plenty of twists and turns on this emotional roller coaster! I suggest you keep both hands and feet in the ride at all times and buckle up because this thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat! Definitely a fun read and worth every minute! As usual the links to Hahn's sites are below! AND SUPER FUN FACT! I couldn't shake how familiar this story was to me so I went downstairs to my childhood bookshelf and look at what I found! The one of the left is the one I posted about on Instagram and the one on the right is one I've had since I was nine! Closed for the Season
By Mary Downing Hahn Book Review by Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-0-547-39853-2 When I bought this book the description left me with images of ghost stories and horrendous murders. This wasn’t quite the case, but that’s about where my disappointment ends. In fact, I can tell that Hahn’s writing is a style I would have read religiously back in middle school. I’d like to take this moment to point out that this review is under ‘fiction’ but your local library may have this book under children or young adult, so please keep that in mind when searching for a copy. Closed For the Season, despite the lack of ghosts, reminds me very much of the Apple Paperback novels I used to have dozens of! So, if you know what I’m talking about then hopefully you have an idea of what kind of novel you’re getting into. To begin with, the novel starts out with a young boy moving into a new town and into a rundown house. It’s already a difficult situation, leave behind your old friends and home in the middle of summer. But then you discover that the previous owner was murdered in the very house you just moved into. That’s right, an unsolved, small town murder. This has the fixings for a creepy, haunting, right? Well, you won't find that, but how about an unsolved mystery and two young boys with a few weeks to kill before school starts? That’s basically what we’re working with. Logan, the young man living in the ‘murder house’ and his next door neighbor Arthur, set out to discover who killed Mrs. Donaldson. After all, from the rich side of town to the poor side of town, this is still a small town, how hard can it be to find a killer? Equally important to this information is that Mrs. Donaldson worked at an amusement park that is about to be bulldozed and turned into a small town expansion. The park, The Magic Forest, was shut down because of missing money, and everyone assumed as the Bookkeeper she must have done the crime. That’s probably why she was murdered, right? Now the boys need to find out if she did it or if they can clear the poor old woman’s good name. Now, Logan and Arthur are both very intelligent boys with large vocabularies. Not exactly the definition of popular children and Logan’s mother is all too aware of it. She wants her son to run in better crowds (more popular ones) and begins driving a wedge between the two boys. When rumors get back to her of their ‘trespassing’ escapades at the abandoned park and supposed troublemaking around town, she is more determined than ever. Unfortunately for her, at this point the boys are in way too deep, not only had they have already grown a loyal attachment to the other, but they already had too many pieces of this crime put together. On top of that new players are constantly being added to the board, such as the town delinquents who live in a trailer park, the DiSilvo’s who run most of the town in their uptown mansion, and even Nina the news reporter who is also investigating the crime. This really starts to become a real page turner! Can they clear Mrs Donaldson’s name much less keep everyone involved with the mystery solving safe? And is there a chance to save the ‘Magic Forest’ like most of the town want? And what did happen to all the money the park lost? Who would have killed a sweet old lady? Ultimately, I have a deep love and respect for mysteries. I cannot give away the answers, nor will I give you any of the major clues. What I can tell you is that this is a gripping mystery that makes for a wonderful afternoon read. It’s not too long, but the impact and the lasting affect the story will have on you, is worth all 182 pages. Hahn really delivered a true work of fiction. I’m off to read another one of her novels right now! Below are the links to her Goodreads and her website. [FUN FACT: When searching for her websites I saw the ORIGINAL covers of some of her books. I probably read some of these as a child without realizing it! MIND BLOWN!] |
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