Coraline + The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I have only recently discovered the talents of Brit-turned-Yank author Neil Gaiman. I have seen his name for years in book news and literary reviews (they were always gushing and positive by the way), but it wasn't until I saw the DVD of Stardust, one of his early novels, that I simply had to read some of his books. His latest effort, The Graveyard Book, had me hooked from the first page. It starts with the brutal murder of a family, except that one of the children, a toddler, survives and escapes to a nearby cemetery where he is taken in and raised by 'residents' there. Nobody Owens, or 'Bod' as he is called, grows up knowing more about the spirit world, and the afterlife, than any human ever. His coming-of-age involves journeys to strange locations, and meetings with unusual creatures, but everything works itself out by the end. It was sufficiently creepy and compelling enough to keep me up all one night until I finished it. I book-talked it to a group of 8th graders recently and they were clamoring to be the first to check it out. I calmed a lot of complaints by explaining that they could go to the author's website (http://www.mousecircus.com/) and hear him read the entire book online, complete with eerie sound effects and everything.

*UPDATE 01/26/2009: Congratulations to Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book winning the 2009 Newbery Medal for outstanding children's literature. The award was announced this morning at the ALA Midwinter Conference.

I decided to read Coraline after finding out that it will be released as a 3D animated movie in February. I know we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this one always made me think of Tim Burton's typically bizarre characters...and I wasn't far off the mark, either! Coraline Jones lives with her too-busy parents in an apartment flat inside a three-story building. Looking for excitement, she goes exploring one day and discovers a parallel world in their building inhabited by ghoulish characters eerily similar to her parents and their neighbors. Coraline is determined not to become another victim of this alternate universe, and she mentally prepares herself for a battle of wits to win her freedom from her evil 'other-mother.' Readers who grew up on the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine should transition quite easily to either of these far superior reads. While the content at first sounds too intense for young children, the ways in which Mr. Gaiman delivers the details make them easy to handle. His subtle style is what makes him such a respected master of the spooky writing enjoyed by so many kids today.

Both these books are available at SMS Library and are recommended for upper elementary, middle grade, and high school age readers.

The Alchemyst + The Magician by Michael Scott

Considering that one of the main characters was mentioned in the Harry Potter books, it's no surprise that fans who are missing the magic and mayhem surrounding the boy wizard have recently latched onto these novels by mythology expert, Michael Scott. Subtitled "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel," The Alchemyst is book one, and The Magician is book two in a planned series about American twins Sophie and Josh Newman. It seems the brother and sister are the mysterious all-powerful twins of legendary prophecy who will one day come to power and rule over the universe. (Whether for good or evil remains to be seen.) Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle are human immortals intent on guiding the youngsters to their fate by leading them to various Shadowrealms and introducing them to others who can "Awaken" their true powers. There's some sibling rivalry when Sophie receives her Awakening first, causing Josh to whine about being left out, and prompting him to question whether the Flamels are truly looking out for their best interests. Along the way they meet the Witch of Endor, Niccolo Machiavelli, John Dee, and others who may or may not be on their side. Most of the action moves for Ojai, California to Paris, France in the second book and the plot turns into one long but exciting chase sequence. Perenelle is captured and placed in a dungeon below Alcatraz Island where she remains throughout book two. The twins meanwhile are aided and protected by Scathatch, a perennial young, hip vampire martial arts master, Joan of Arc (yes, that one) who can summon metal armor and a sword at will, and Joan's husband, the Count de Saint-Germain who is moonlighting as a famous rock star. Confused? Don't be. It all makes sense when you start at page one and keep reading forward. The Sorceress is the title of a third book in the series coming in Spring 2009, so expect to see it reviewed here soon.

A copy of both The Alchemyst and The Magician is available at SMS Library. They are suitable for upper elementary to adult.