The Council of Elrond decreed that we form a bookclub, and we obliged.

For our seventh bookclub meeting we are reading Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.  Join us for discussion of our current book as well as voice your opinion for our next selection.

The Graveyard Book’s Amazon Review:

In The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman has created a charming allegory of childhood. Although the book opens with a scary scene–a family is stabbed to death by “a man named Jack” –the story quickly moves into more child-friendly storytelling. The sole survivor of the attack–an 18-month-old baby–escapes his crib and his house, and toddles to a nearby graveyard. Quickly recognizing that the baby is orphaned, the graveyard’s ghostly residents adopt him, name him Nobody (“Bod”), and allow him to live in their tomb. Taking inspiration from Kipling’s The Jungle Book, Gaiman describes how the toddler navigates among the headstones, asking a lot of questions and picking up the tricks of the living and the dead. In serial-like episodes, the story follows Bod’s progress as he grows from baby to teen, learning life’s lessons amid a cadre of the long-dead, ghouls, witches, intermittent human interlopers. A pallid, nocturnal guardian named Silas ensures that Bod receives food, books, and anything else he might need from the human world. Whenever the boy strays from his usual play among the headstones, he finds new dangers, learns his limitations and strengths, and acquires the skills he needs to survive within the confines of the graveyard and in wider world beyond. (ages 10 and up) -–Heidi Broadhead

Update:

Watch every chapter read by the author Neil Gaiman online: http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx

thanks to fellow nerd @MailorderAndie for the tip!

When: Monday, March 8, 2010 – 6:30pm-8:00pm

Where: Second floor of the Noble Tree Cafe 2444 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL

Cost: Free

Tags | book nerd, fantasy nerd, science fiction nerd