The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Have you ever read Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book? I know you've probably seen the movie. Since my son Rex is obsessed with it, I've seen it a dozen times in the last two months, but I'm asking about the book here. I, myself, have not read it, but reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman has piqued my interest. See, the idea for Gaiman's book it based on Kipling's. In The Jungle Book, as you may be aware, Mowgli, the main character is a man-cub raised by wolves in the jungle. Similarly, the main character of The Graveyard Book, Bod, is adopted. However, in the case of Bod, it is not wolves in the jungle, but ghosts in a graveyard that take him in after his family is killed. Bod's story parallels Mowgli's in many ways, and like Kipling, Gaiman is able to create a unique and interesting world for Bod as he grows. The reader follows Bod as he explores the graveyard, grows, learns about his world and the outside world and discovers the truth of his first family. I enjoyed this book, although it was not what I expected. I had been anticipating reading it for months, and I was surprised that I was not immediately drawn in and addicted. However, once I began to connect to Bod and imagine his world and experiences, to visualize the graveyard, I couldn't wait to return to him each time I was called away. The Graveyard Book is thoughtful, original and interesting. It is a book with many layers, and one can read it for pleasure or spend time dissecting it to discover deeper treasure. It has left me thinking; I love when a book does that.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher

Another book bites the dust! I just finished Deadline by Chris Crutcher. Here's the premise: Ben Wolfe finds out during his cross country physical before school starts that he has an aggressive terminal blood disease, and will in all likelihood die within a year. He decides to keep the news to himself, and live an entire life in the short time he has left. He will be fearless and take risks he never thought he could. Seems pretty predictable and after school special-ish, right? Well, if that's what you're looking for, you'll be disappointed. Crutcher delivers a great story, with some twists and turns built into the plot and the characters. Speaking of characters, I think he did a great job of developing Ben and making him unique, believable and likeable. I understood Ben's decisions and I usually agreed with him. Ditto for most of the other characters, but I think Crutcher put most of his energy into Ben. Also, to Crutcher's credit, he manages to write a novel about a terminally ill teenager that is not sappy and preachy. Of course I cried at the end, but if you know me at all that shouldn't surprise you (there have been appliance commercials that have made me tear over) and I appreciate that Crutcher was able to make me care about the story, and not drag out the end and manipulate my emotions. It is a story of Ben's life, not his death. Rave reviews aside, a warning to sensitive readers: Crutcher is the author of at least a dozen award winning, well written, insightful young adult novels; however, he writes in the voice of today's teenager. Unfortunately, that means he uses a pretty good amount of profanity, and there is some talk of sex. If you've read any other book by Crutcher, you can expect this one to be on the same level. For me the language was a bit over the top, but didn't spoil the deeper meaning of the book and Ben's message.

Jude by Kate Morgenroth

I just put down Jude by Kate Morgenroth. I finished it in a couple of days, and I think it was such a quick read for me because of character development. I love a good, believable, honest character, and Jude is just that. When we first encounter 15 year old Jude, his drug dealing father has just been murdered in front of him. With in the first few pages, he discovers his mother did not abandon him, as his father had told him. The truth? His father had kidnapped him and Jude's mother was, in fact, the DA of a neighboring county. The story is not, however, a drama telling of their difficult reconcilation and relationship building, but more of a suspense/mystery which is a little complicated to go into. I felt compelled to read on, and quickly because I felt connected and interested in Jude, his story, his emotions and his experiences all made me like him and want to know more. The plot didn't hurt either, as I couldn't wait to get it all unraveled. The ending was mostly satisfying, but I felt a little sad to leave Jude behind and move on to my next book. This was a really great YA novel, but it does have some "mature" themes dealing with drugs and prison time, and there is a fair amount of profanity in it. There is, after all, some prison time involved, but I'd say the author did a good job of keeping the prison setting in the background and not going too far with profanity/violence in prison, while still making it a believable experience for Jude. Borrowing from movie ratings, I'd give this a PG-13 rating.