So I have been trying to come up with a way to justify the fact that I gave this book five stars. I don't give out a lot of 5-star ratings (in fact out of all the quite good books I have read this year none of them were five stars) and then I go and give five stars to this random kid's book I read over the weekend. But whatever, I like what I like, and some of the very best books are children's books. 
 "Delightful" seems like such a cheesy thing to say about the book, but it fits. The tale of Nobody Owens who grew up in a graveyard was a delightful book. Now appreciate the irony, as this is a book that begins with three murders and continues with ghosts, ghouls, werewolves and a brief trip to "hell", and the word that pops into my head is "delightful". 
 Truth be told, I was rather wary of this Gaiman guy. Everyone seems to be talking about him (by everyone, I actually mean nerds), and he wrote a brilliant episode of Doctor Who, but I am horribly suspicious of children's literature that is creepy for the sake of being creepy. A macabre story is fine, an amoral story is not (looking at you, Phillip Pullman). But this story was not amoral by any means. It was a story of family, friendship, and growing up, but more importantly growing up to be someone who makes your family and friends proud to have had a hand in raising you. 
 I suppose comparing this book to Harry Potter is going to seem a lot like the knuckleheads who compare Game of Thrones to Lord of the Rings, but they really are a lot alike (The Graveyard Book and Potter, not the other two. Never). Not the plot or the setting or the characters, but the feel of it. One of the charming (ha, pun) things about Harry Potter was that he was living in an extraordinary world but still had to do his homework like any other kid. This book is similar. Bod has to deal with boring teachers, eating his vegetables and facing his parents after sneaking out; all familiar experiences even if Bod's teachers and parents are ghosts. 
 And then there was just the characters themselves. And by that I mostly mean Silas, the most completely awesome character in the book (or in any book I've read recently). I might even mention that Mr. Gaiman succeed where Stephanie Meyer utterly failed, but that is all I will say. 
 My only complaint about this book was that once the real "villains" were revealed they were a bit cheesy and not at all scary. Then again, it is a kids book, maybe there was enough creepy stuff already. 
 So yeah, that was a lot to say about a little book. But it was good, and I'm sure I will read it again. I suppose I'll also have to check out some of Gaiman's other books too.