Newbery+Authors+and+Novels



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 * Fifth Graders will use this page to write about their Newbery Honor or Medal authors and novels.

Just Announced! The **2009 Newbery Medal** has been awarded to **Neil Gaiman** for his novel //**The Graveyard Book**//, about an orphaned boy named Nobody Owens (nicknamed Bods) who is raised by a group of ghosts in the local graveyard! (Copies are coming soon to our Hoover Library!)




 * Neil Gaiman was born in Portchester, England in 1960. As a child, he really loved the Lewis Carroll classic //Alice in Wonderland//. The idea that a different world could exist just outside normal life is a major theme in Gaiman's work that can be traced to Lewis Carroll's influence. As a teenager, Gaiman became obsessed with comic books and music. When he was 16, he played in a punk band that was almost signed to a record contract, but the band decided not to "sell out" by signing the contract.

Recently, Neil Gaiman's novella //Coraline// has been made into a motion picture that will soon be in theaters. He is famous for his comic book series //Sandman//, about a character originally appearing in old American comics, and for his two children's picture books, //The Wolves in the Walls// and //The Day I Swapped My Father for Two Goldfish//. He also wrote the screenplay for last year's film adaptation of Beowulf (which Mrs. Staub refused to see because it ruined a wonderful old story. You will get to read Beowulf in 10th grade!)

Much of Neil Gaiman's work is dark and scary. Some teachers and parents think his writing is too spooky or upsetting for young readers, which is why the ALA's selection of Gaiman for the 2009 Newbery was sort of a surprise for the literary community (and for Gaiman himself).

Neil Gaiman is married to Mary Therese McFadden, and they have three children: Michael, Holly and Maddy. Gaiman now lives in Minnesota and is working on several new writing projects.

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