Summary: An orphaned boy is raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard. 312 p., HarperCollins Publishers.
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Summary: An orphaned boy is raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard. 312 p., HarperCollins Publishers.
Eva Perry Mock-Newbery Club 
There is a bit of a controversy about whether this book is actually eligible for the Newbery. Isn’t Neil Gaiman British? Well, he now lives in the U.S., so that makes him eligible. Was the book published first in the U.S.? It looks like it was published simultaneously in the U.K. and the U.S., so it still eligible. But, one chapter “The Witch’s Headstone” was published in another book M is for Magic. Does that make it ineligible? We’re not really 100% sure, but we think it is probably okay — and we like the book — so our club is reading it!
I really, really, really enjoyed this book, and it was a lot of fun to read, with just the right amount of spookiness. But, eligibility matters aside, I don’t think it is right for Newbery. I’m not 100% sure why, maybe because it didn’t have much of a plot? It was more like a collection of short stories strung together by the same characters and locations. And I also don’t think it had very much character development. Yes, Bod grew from a toddler to a teenager, and learned that there was a world beyond that of the graveyard, but I don’t think there was much emotional development. And I have enough other books that are more distinguished than this taking up my top 6. But otherwise, it’s a great book and everyone should read it.
This was a pretty good book i thought that i was hunting down ghosts in a graveyard. And i also thought that this book was really good book.