Fanatsy-Book Review

The Graveyard Book

By: Neil Gaiman

With illustrations by Dave McKean

A. Bibliographic Data

Gaiman, Neil. 2008. The Graveyard Book. Ill. by Dave McKean. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.

ISBN: 978-0-06-053092-1

B. Plot Summary

The Graveyard Book is a novel about a young boy who becomes an orphan when the rest of his family is murdered. Escaping to a nearby graveyard down the hill the ghost of the graveyard take him in and raise him. Now with the name of Nobody Owens or Bod he is raised among the inhabitants of the graveyard and given the rights of the graveyard. He is given adopted parents and a guardian named Silas who is neither among the living or the dead. Bod goes upon many adventures and befriends a dead witch and comes in contact with an ancient Indigo Man under a hill. Forced to face his family's attacker from many years ago Bod soon learns the meaning of love and the need to live.

C. Critical Analysis

Neil Gaiman weaves together an interesting plot about a live boy living among the dead and trying to figure out what living is all about. The character development is very creative with types of characters I have never read about. Gaiman creates ghosts, goblins, guardians, murders, a witch, and living characters as well. There is a wide range of characters and their capabilities is revealed throughout the book. The setting of the book is well developed and takes place mostly in a huge graveyard. Gaiman's overall style of the book is dark and often a bit depressing with a longing of sorrow for the young boy Bod. The Graveyard Book is an interesting read and very different from anything I have read before. After reading the book the reader will find themselves with a renewal and an appreciation for life and a life worth living.

D. Awards Won

*John Newbery Medal

*Hugo Award

*Carnegie Medal

*Locus Award

School Library Journal Review-"Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. The child Bod's behavior is occasionally too precocious to be believed, and a series of puns on the name Jack render the villain a bit less frightening than he should be, though only momentarily. Aside from these small flaws, however, Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family."-School Library Journal

E. Connections

* Conduct an author study over other books by Neil Gaiman.

* Take a class field trip to a nearby graveyard and have the class conduct grave rubbings.

* Introduce and read other stories involving ghost and graveyards. A great time to do this would be around Halloween.