I suspect that the Newbery award will do for The Graveyard Book what it always does for medalists — draw children to it. It is my impression (and I’d be happy to be shown some data that proves me wrong) that its popularity prior to the Monday announcement (e.g. its best seller status) was because of teen and adult Gaiman fans not children. For example, I noticed that only one caller on yesterday’s NPR segment about the book mentioned a child. The rest were adult fans.
Last fall I’d heard some wondering about whether the book would appeal to a younger audience so I read it aloud to my fourth graders to see for myself. As I wrote here, it was a huge hit; I was convinced then that it was a children’s classic, but I saw very few mentions of other children reading it. So I’m delighted that the Newbery will now reassure other gatekeepers that this is a book for children as much as for teens and adults. Truly popular.
educating alice 