The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman I never cared much for Young Adult fiction even when I was a teenager. Of course, the YA stuff in my youth was a lot different. Most of it was insipid and condescending, especially to a kid that was pestering the librarians because they wouldn't let him check out The Man with the Golden Arm.

Actually, I have probably read more YA since I've been doodling on Goodreads than anytime before. Pretty much any topic is now fair game. I think the turning point in YA was probably R.L. Stine. Since then, the supernatural and horror was given the green light for children and teenagers even though they've always been attracted to that sort of thing.

The Graveyard Book starts with a murder. Not just any murder but one of a mother, father, and a 7 year old child. Even though the author implies rather than describes the murder this is still unusual for a children book especially one winning the Newbury Prize. The 2 year old child escapes and is given protection by the ghosts in a nearly cemetery. We read vignettes of his experiences as he gets older. Neil Gaiman is quite poetic throughout this book making each character an unique individual. It is an eerie book but we care for Nobody Owens and his caretakers. I found this novel very moving and one of the finest pieces of literature I've read in the YA genre.