https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k Neil Gaiman en-us 2017-10-19 19:45:33 UTC 2024-10-02 02:38:51 UTC hello@padlet.com har20587 https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/198856188 (Graphic Novel)
Neil Gaiman]]> 2017-10-19 19:49:25 UTC https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/198856188 har20587 https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/198856838 2017-10-19 19:51:16 UTC https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/198856838 har20587 https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/198857263 2017-10-19 19:52:46 UTC https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/198857263 har20587 https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/199796054 "Then in a voice like the chiming of a hundred tiny silver bells, she said only... 'The dead should have charity.' and she smiled." page 27]]> 2017-10-23 21:58:05 UTC https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/199796054 har20587 https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/199796268 Once you have had everything taken away, still give more. At this point in the book, the graveyard folk are trying to decide whether or not they should let the living baby stay and grow in the graveyard. As they're debating, the woman in grey comes and delivers the line. After she leaves there is no more debating. They allow the child to stay. This child later becomes the main character, Nobody Owens.]]> 2017-10-23 21:59:54 UTC https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/199796268 har20587 https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/199801643 2017-10-23 22:39:01 UTC https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/199801643 har20587 https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/199810391 I read several reviews before I stumbled upon this blog post on the School Library Journal by Elizabeth Bird. Bird is currently the Collections Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and the former Materials Specialist for the New York Public Library. She also served on the Newbery award committee and has written for Horn Book. 

The reason I liked this review was because it not only talked about the book, but also its connections to the genre of young adult literature.  She mentions the trend in children's and young adult literature toward venturing into the macabre and links The Graveyard Book to the idea of a "coming of age" story.  She also mentions that The Graveyard Book is just a "good book," suitable for all kinds of readers, including those of fantasy and horror, and yet the book is still appropriate for young readers.   

I also liked how Bird describes Bod, the main character of The Graveyard Book.  The book's depiction of Bod is refreshingly different than most.  His actions, although sometimes thoughtless, can still be forgiven.  Bird points this out in her review and explains that while Bod isn't perfect, the reader is still interested in finding out his fate.

One thing that seemed exaggerated or contrived in this review was when Bird seemed to be talking directly to her reader, like when she was describing how she felt about Coraline, one of Neil Gaiman's earlier books.  I wish she had dialed it back a bit and stuck to a more professional tone.  It also seemed like there were places that Bird veered off topic and rambled instead of talking about The Graveyard Book itself.  She got distracted, and I found it distracting as a reader.]]> 2017-10-23 23:45:51 UTC https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/199810391 har20587 https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/202724265 2017-11-01 21:52:35 UTC https://padlet.com/har20587/b9unvedc0g1k/wish/202724265