Newbery Medal winner has a big following

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Neil Gaiman was planning to sleep late this past Monday morning, but the phone in his Los Angeles hotel room rang before dawn. On the line was his assistant, saying that Gaiman needed to wake up and take an important call on his cell phone.
"I was not yet sure what was going on or who was trying to do what," Gaiman recounts on his blog at www.neilgaiman.com. "It was 5:45 in the morning. No one had died, though, I was fairly certain of that. (Then) my cell-phone rang."
It was the members of the 2009 Newbery Medal committee, informing an incredulous Gaiman that he had just won the most important prize in American children's literature for his novel "The Graveyard Book."
A day later, Gaiman, 48, was still in happy haze, having just done the traditional "Today Show" interview required of Newbery winners and now working his way through a mountain of interviews.
"I'm definitely still euphoric. I'm definitely still in a blur," Gaiman said in an interview from his New York City hotel room. "The only new piece of information (today) is discovering how happy people are that this book has won.
"It's a Newbery winner and it's a book that people already want to read in a world in which getting people to read seems harder and harder."
Many librarians and other children's literature experts are euphoric themselves over the fact that the Newbery Committee chose Gaiman's book, which spent 15 weeks on The New York Times best-seller lists and already has strong word-of-mouth popularity among young readers.
"In the Gaiman they found a book that combines literary quality and a wide readership -- how lovely to see such a book win the award," said Anita Silvey, a well-known children's literature expert and author of "100 Best Books For Children."
It was Silvey who sparked a rousing debate in children's literature circles when she suggested in an article in the October edition of School Library Journal that recent Newbery Medal winners have been "disappointing" choices that fail to engage most young readers.
Because the Newbery Medal criteria specifically state that the award is "not... for popularity," Silvey and others have been concerned that Newbery Committee members have tended to discount popular books and instead concentrate on choosing books that might be overlooked by young readers.
Gaiman himself believes that it's "completely fair" that award judges use "their magical judging powers" to try to spotlight books that would otherwise go unnoticed.
"That's one reason I assumed I wasn't even a contender (for the Newbery)," he added.
In his beautifully written novel, Gaiman riffs on "The Jungle Book" as he tells the story of Bod, a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. While the book essentially is a quirky coming-of-age story, it begins with a triple murder, preceded by these words: "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife."
Despite the fact that it won the Newbery Medal, Gaiman said he fully expects "The Graveyard Book" to stir up controversy among those who challenge any book with witchcraft, ghosts or violence.
"I'm absolutely sure that, within the next couple of weeks, there will be people who will start to grumble and grumble loudly.... But the truth is that most of the people who read the book will see it as a book about family, about community, about childhood and child-raising. It's about the great joyous tragedy of parenthood: that, if you do your job right, your children will grow up and leave you."
Gaiman first began "The Graveyard Book" nearly 20 years ago, after watching his son Michael ride a tricycle in a graveyard. The scene reminded Gaiman of one of his favorite books, "The Jungle Book," and he thought it would be interesting to tell a story about a boy whose childhood is spent in a graveyard.
"But I knew I was not as good a writer as the book deserved, so I put it off until I felt I had the chops for it," Gaiman said. He finally picked up the idea again three years ago.
Considered a "rock star of the literary world" by his many fans, Gaiman is a master writer who expresses his creativity in a variety of mediums. Gaiman has authored the classic graphic novel series 'Sandman," best-selling novels for adults like "American Gods" and "Anansi Boys," picture books for children, including "The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish," and children's novels, such as "Coraline."
Gaiman, who also has written several screenplays, has won numerous literary prizes for his work, including the Hugo Award for best fantasy novel.
Born in Portchester, England, Gaiman was an avid reader as a child, particularly of fantasy fiction. As he said in a 1999 interview with "Writers Write: The Internet Writing Journal," Gaiman said: "My parents would frisk me before family events. Before weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, and what have you.
"Because if they didn't, then the book would be hidden inside some pocket or other and as soon as whatever it was got under way, I'd be found in a corner. That was who I was... that was what I did. I was the kid with the book."
Gaiman first worked as a journalist before carving out a niche in comics with "Sandman." Since then, he has sold millions of books and his popularity has risen steadily among readers. He's currently promoting an about-to-be-released film created from "Coraline." In addition, he's writing a non-fiction book about China, and has just completed a new "Batman" comic that may at least temporarily kill off the popular character.
Nearly 20 years ago, Gaiman moved to the Minneapolis area with his wife and three children. It was his long-time residency in the United States that allowed him to qualify for the Newbery, which is restricted to authors or residents of the United States.
Winning the Newbery, Gaiman says, "is an absolute delight. I care so much about children's fiction. I think that children's fiction, more than anything, has the capacity to change lives."

(Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md., Library, can be reached at Kam.Macpherson(at)gmail.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com)