I must confess I was skeptical about this one. I have mixed feelings about Neil Gaiman -- I love Good Omens and the Coraline film, but was not thrilled with American Gods (great concept, so-so execution) or Sandman (bored). I'm so glad I gave The Graveyard Book a chance, as this book is a true pleasure.

It's about family, growing up, life, and death, but it doesn't feel weighty. It's funny, especially the gravestone epitaphs and the run-in with the truly terrible poet. It manages a truly creepy moment as it approaches the climax when Mr. Frost becomes the man Jack that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I teared up a little at the end as Bod leaves the graveyard for the last time, the ghosts having faded away. I loved that each ghost had a speaking style based (sort of) on attested usage from their lifetime.

I loved also the not-quite-a-novel, not-quite-short-stories feel of the book, a style I tend to favor (Trainspotting, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, etc). Per Neil Gaiman, he was inspired by the Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book 1 & 2, which also comprise an episodic coming-of-age tale.