I enjoyed this a lot, and it was a fast read (says the slow reader). It reminded me of Diana Wynne Jones, the way an unassuming youngster stumbles into magic unintentionally (except it's not exactly magic). 
 However, there is often a slight disconnect between me and Mr. Gaiman, something I have never quite been able to put my finger on. It's like we believe and value overlapping sets of things, but there's the part we don't share and it niggles. Or like we're looking at the same thing with different lenses. I don't know. I'm sometimes better at metaphors than this, really. But I can't quite put my finger on where we're off from each other.