The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book

By Neil Gaiman

Harper Collins, 2008. 307 pages. Fantasy.

ISBN: 978-0060530938

Reading/Interest Level: Ages 10+

Curriculum ties: Language Arts

Booktalk Ideas: You have magic, now what?: Talk about how Bod is an orphans and has special abilities because he was raised by ghosts.

Challenge Issues: Murder, ghost/occult issues

Challenge Response: First Defense File

Reader’s Annotation:

Nobody Owens is just like any other boy, except that he grew up in a graveyard, raised by ghosts.

Plot Summary:

            A dangerous killer enters the house, murders the family, but somehow misses the baby wandering out the front door. Across the street the baby goes into an old graveyard where the residents, though physically dead, are still very active and take an interest in the boy. The ghosts Mr. and Mrs. Owens adopt the baby, name him Nobody, and raise him as their own.

            Growing up in a graveyard and being raised by ghosts has its perks, but Nobody Owens just wants to be like the other kids. He goes on adventures in and out of the graveyard, using his special powers like fading, haunting, and dream walking to interact with the world and learn more. He tries going to school, but intense bullying makes it difficult for Nobody to go unnoticed so he stops going. Meanwhile, the killer is still out there. Still hunting for the baby he somehow missed.

Critical Evaluation:

            There is a dark feel to this book that keeps readers slightly on edge and leery, even when the plot is lighthearted. The prose flows beautifully, and Gaiman provides just the right amount of wit to entertain and amuse readers, even in suspenseful moments like when baby Nobody is escaping his would-be killer.

            The special abilities that Nobody has as a resident of the graveyard reminds the reader of dreams they had (or are having) as a child and teen, things like becoming invisible and sneaking around inside other people’s thoughts. The rules of the world Gaiman created are made clear in the story through Nobody’s education, and do not feel forced.

            Nobody is just like any other boy. He wants to have friends. He wants to explore. He wants to do things he knows he probably shouldn’t do, just to test his limits. This book addresses the issues and feelings that teens have in a unique, fantastical way that appeals to many.

             

About the Author:

Neil Gaiman was born in Hampshire, UK, and now lives in the United States near Minneapolis.  As a child he discovered his love of books, reading, and stories, devouring the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Branch Cabell, Edgar Allan Poe, Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gene Wolfe, and G.K. Chesterton.  A self-described “feral child who was raised in libraries,” Gaiman credits librarians with fostering a life-long love of reading: “I wouldn't be who I am without libraries. I was the sort of kid who devoured books, and my happiest times as a boy were when I persuaded my parents to drop me off in the local library on their way to work, and I spent the day there. I discovered that librarians actually want to help you: they taught me about interlibrary loans.”

Gaiman began his writing career in England as a journalist.  His first book was a Duran Duran biography that took him three months to write, and his second was a biography of Douglas Adams, ‘Don’t Panic: The Official Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Companion.’  Gaiman describes his early writing:  “I was very, very good at taking a voice that already existed and parodying or pastiching it.”

Neil Gaiman is credited with being one of the creators of modern comics, as well as an author whose work crosses genres and reaches audiences of all ages.  He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama.

–from author’s website-

Justification of Selection:

This book is easy to relate to for teens and has the main character dealing with the same issues that teens today deal with, just in a fantastical setting. It’s beautifully written and has won multiple awards (Newbery Medal, Hugo Award for Best Novel, Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and the Carnegie Medal).