The Best Book I've Read

The Graveyard Book is a fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman. I got this book by chance and I am glad that I did. The Graveyard Book is a story about a boy named Nobody Owens, or Bod for short. He would've been an ordinary boy if he wasn't raised by ghosts and lived in a graveyard. I liked how each chapter of the book is a short story in itself detailing events that occur as Bod grows up in the graveyard. I would totally give it a 10 out of 10 because I really enjoyed it and the plot was simply awesome.

One night, the mysterious man only known as "Jack" attempts to murder family. After violently killing the mother, father, and they're older child, the man Jack attempts to kill they're 2-year-old toddler. When he reaches the child's room, however, he was no longer there.The man Jack, whose silence and hunting skills seem not quite of this world, follows the scent of the boy and discovers that the toddler wandered into a nearby graveyard. 

When Jack arrived at the graveyard, the community of the dead decided to hide the boy from the killer, and the enigmatic Silas - who isn't quite alive, nor dead- takes the man Jack aside, escorts him calmly out of the graveyard and erases his memory. The community of ghosts decides to keep the boy, after realizing that the boy's life is endangered in the outside world. They named the child Nobody, or Bod for short. Bod is then adopted by the Victorian ghosts of Mr and Mrs Owens, and Silas appoints himself Bod's guardian, because he is the only one who can leave the graveyard and bring back food. For Silas knows that the man Jack will not rest in his hunt.. 

Among the dead are teachers, workers, wealthy prigs, romantics, pragmatists and even a few children - a community ready to raise a living child. And they do, ably led by Silas. Bod is given "the Freedom of the Graveyard", allowing him to learn nifty ghost tricks such as Night Vision, Fading and Dream walking. Bod has adventures, makes friends -both living and dead - and begins to learn about his past and consider his future. For his own safety, he's not allowed to leave the grounds, but there is plenty to explore in the graveyard. Along the way, he encounters hideous ghouls, a witch, middle school bullies and an otherworldly fraternal order that holds the secret to his family’s murder. When he grows older, things start to change, and the novel’s momentum and tension pick up as he learns why he’s been in the graveyard all this time and what he needs to do to leave. 

The overall story of The Graveyard Book is captivating and endearing.  Nobody is an easy to love character and at the end of the book, you almost wish you could follow the him to see where he might end up. Neil Gaiman opens the gates of our imagination to folklore and fables, dreams and nightmares which inhabit a world only a blink away from our own. The Graveyard Book is a delightful mix of fantasy and mystery that will entertain readers of all ages. 

The end of the book itself is filled with hope. This may sound odd for a book which takes place primarily among the dead, but it seems that having grown up with the dead gives Bod a special appreciation for actually living life to its fullest. The Graveyard Book is a book that I really enjoyed and I hope everyone would read it and enjoy it as much as I did, because for me, It's the best book I've read.

-Joseph Faundo