Bibliographic Information: 

Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere. 1996. New York: HarperTorch, 2001.

Brief summary: 

Richard Mayhew is living a dull but fairly secure life in London. When he stops to help an injured young woman, his entire life is thrown into disarray. After losing job, apartment, and fiancee, he finds himself in London Below, a dark, dangerous, and violent world he had no idea existed. The novel traces his quest to help Door (the injured young woman) and regain his life.

Comments:

This book is reasonably engaging, but very dark. It was recommended on the Child_Lit listserv, but to me it doesn't really seem to be a children's book. Gaiman doesn't offer a middle ground between a safe and empty corporate life in London Above and the dark and violent world of London Below, and I found this ultimately unsatisfying.

Grade/Age level:

Probably the older side of the young adult range--a reader's equivalent of PG-13. It might work for teens, but I wouldn't recommend it for tweens.

Cautions:

The books is quite violent, and also includes matter-of-fact (though not especially explicit) discussions of sex that seem to be aimed at a mature reader.

--Lisa Gordis

Feel free to add comments by clicking the comments tab above.