Summer reading: Hugo Award-winning The Graveyard Book

Summer is almost over. We have two weeks to go and I've utterly entered panic mode, given that the to-do lists on the whiteboards in my office just keep growing and I only seem to be marking items off occasionally. Two of my kids are also cranking into panic mode as they realize that time is short to complete their summer assignments.

If anyone out there is looking for a last-minute bit of summer reading, then do I have a book for you. How many kids have book reports due in a couple of weeks? A few folks might even want something to read on the beach or by the pool for actual pleasure reading during the last warm weeks of the season. Neil Gaiman has won the Hugo Award three times already and just won it again this Sunday for The Graveyard Book.

The Hugo Award goes to works of outstanding science fiction or fantasy each year at the Worldcon fantasy convention and this book, which appeals nicely to both adults and young readers, is well worth your time this summer. I'm about halfway through it now (it's very quick reading; I'm just too busy and reading too many other books concurrently to make speedier progress) and it's easy to see why it has won so many awards.

I won't give a review here. It's been thoroughly reviewed elsewhere. Suffice to say that a book by one of the masters of modern fantasy about a boy raised by ghosts is a great summer read, no matter what your age.