How does this year's Newbery winner stack up?

With the recent announcement that Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book is the winner of the 2009 Newbery Medal, the niggling can now begin!

For anyone unfamiliar with the background, here's a little bit to bring you up to speed: the Newbery Medal is awarded yearly "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children" (from Newbery Medal home page). Recently, there have been questions raised about the popularity of Newbery winners with kids and critics alike. Many believe that winners of the past few years have made little connection with kids, and little impact on reviewers. One article asks the question right in its title: "Has the Newbery Lost its Way?"

All of this leads us to this year's Newbery winner, The Graveyard Book. Unlike some recent winners, Gaiman is a known quantity. He has been around long enough to have made a significant dent in the world of comics, graphic novels, adult literature, young adult literature, and children's literature. Over the years he has exhibited an ability to adapt his style to many different readerships without sacrificing that style. When you read a book by Neil Gaiman, you know it.

The Graveyard Book has all the atmosphere, wit, and good writing that we have come to expect from Neil Gaiman. Following the arc of Nobody's youth, we discover ourselves propelled through openings and tight fits as skillfully as our 12th president paraded Whitey on the White House lawn.

Still, The Graveyard Book is a difficult book to recommend to all readers. It is not a book that grandparents will lovingly send to the kids. While there is a wonderful sense of family in the graveyard, it only comes after another family is lost in a most arresting way. Its initial scene of unspeakable horror contrasts with the quiet "life" of the graveyard that Bod later calls home, and the reader understands that bad things will continue to haunt Bod. Of course, this is part of its appeal as well.

I hope readers will make up their own minds about The Graveyard Book, the winner of the 2009 Newbery Medal. What do you think?