The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
(Click here)
Book Summary Information
Author: Neil GaimanIllustrator: Dave McKean
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-01
ISBN: 0060530928
Number of pages: 320
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Reviews of The Graveyard Book
Book Review: Brilliant, just brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
Neil Gaiman is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I recently read Coraline, my first Gaiman, and I loved it. Now I have completed the Graveyard Book and thought it was brilliant!
Although this book is fantasy and filled with ghosts, ghouls witches, hellhounds and more it is really a story of a boy trying to find his way in the world. Nobody "Bod" Owens is orphaned after his family is murdered and he somehow escapes the killer and wanders into the graveyard adjoining his home. Taken in by the ghosts residing in there he is given the freedom of the graveyard and is raised by his parents the Owens' and a guardian Silas, who provides for him because he can leave the graveyard and wander the world as a human; although never stated he is probably a vampire. Bod must remain in the graveyard because it is only here he can be protected by the killer who is still after him, for reasons that re not made known until late in the story.
The tale is told in a series of vignettes that most children can relate to - learning to spell and read, making friends, going to school, a first love and unexpected loss. It is all told in suspenseful, funny, and touching way with a good amount of horror but also a lot of love, Bod for his `family' and guardian and they for him. The ending was so touching and bittersweet I actually cried. That's a rare book that can touch me so much.
I listened to the audio version, which was read by the author himself. He brings so much to the storytelling and has one of the best (and sexiest) voices ever. I am going to pick up the hardcover version, but this audio is certainly one than can be listened to again and again. Shortly after I finished the book it was announced that it had won Audible of the Year and I can say it was very well deserved. Well done Mr. Gaiman.
Summary of The Graveyard Book
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.
He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.
There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.
But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack-who has already killed Bod's family. . . .
Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.
In The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman has created a charming allegory of childhood. Although the book opens with a scary scene--a family is stabbed to death by "a man named Jack" --the story quickly moves into more child-friendly storytelling. The sole survivor of the attack--an 18-month-old baby--escapes his crib and his house, and toddles to a nearby graveyard. Quickly recognizing that the baby is orphaned, the graveyard's ghostly residents adopt him, name him Nobody ("Bod"), and allow him to live in their tomb. Taking inspiration from Kipling's The Jungle Book, Gaiman describes how the toddler navigates among the headstones, asking a lot of questions and picking up the tricks of the living and the dead. In serial-like episodes, the story follows Bod's progress as he grows from baby to teen, learning life's lessons amid a cadre of the long-dead, ghouls, witches, intermittent human interlopers. A pallid, nocturnal guardian named Silas ensures that Bod receives food, books, and anything else he might need from the human world. Whenever the boy strays from his usual play among the headstones, he finds new dangers, learns his limitations and strengths, and acquires the skills he needs to survive within the confines of the graveyard and in wider world beyond. (ages 10 and up) --Heidi Broadhead
General Books
- Children's Books > Ages 9-12
- Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( G ) > Gaiman, Neil
- Literature > Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror > Spine-Chilling Horror
- Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( G ) > Gaiman, Neil
- ( M ) > McKean, Dave
- Genre Fiction > Horror > Ghosts
- Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( G ) > Gaiman, Neil
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