Gaiman, Neil. 2008. Ill. Dave McKean. The Graveyard Book . New York: Harper.
However, I listened to the book at MouseCircus, read by the author himself. The citation for the website is below:
Gaiman, Neil. "Neil Gaiman’s MouseCircus.com | The Graveyard Book Video Tour Readings." MouseCircus.com Home – The Official Neil Gaiman Website for Young Readers. http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx (accessed August 8, 2011)
Plot Summary:
On a terrible night, the man Jack slaughters an entire family with one exception: the toddler boy who slipped out the door and into a graveyard. With his family murdered and no one around to raise him but in a graveyard full of ghosts, the ghosts take the boy into their "home" (the cemetery), give him a name, Nobody "Bod" Owens, and do their best to raise him.
Critical review:
The Graveyard Book is not your typical children's tale of family, friends, hearth, and home. The book begins with the terrible murders of Bod's family at the hands of the man Jack. There goes the typical, nuclear family! Bod unwittingly escapes Jack by crawling out the front door and ends up in a graveyard where the ghosts basically adopt him. Mr. and Mrs. Owens become Bod's parents and Silas, a character who is neither living nor dead but inhabits the graveyard, serves as a bridge between the living world and the graveyard world for Bod.
Inside the graveyard, Bod learns from Silas, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, and the other inhabitants, but like any child, Bod longs to explore his world outside the graveyard. Though he is forbidden, like all children forbidden something, it becomes sweet, and Bod travels, briefly, outside the only "home" he's ever known. Along his adventure, he befriends a young girl and he meets the man that killed his family. For a brief time, Silas consents to allow Bod to attend school because, like all children, Bod has a desire to learn and understand, but that turns into a disaster because Bod really knows nothing of how the world is outside the graveyard.
The irony of this book is that the graveyard is safe for Bod. It is his home. It is not scary; it is not the stuff of horror stories even though it IS the stuff of horror stories. In it, Bod has parents, friends his own age, a community, and even a mentor. Outside the graveyard lurks the man Jack whose determination is to finish the job he started so long ago. Bod's life is under constant threat from Jack. But, Bod learns not to fear death or the unknown, even the impossible, because he is surrounded by it all everyday he lives in the graveyard. He learns ghostly talents (how to fade, for example) just as he learns his ABCs and 1, 2, 3's. The mixing of the natural with the supernatural in what should be a frightening setting is the irony: The setting is not frightening and the supernatural is the natural...for Bod, anyway.
As he grows, Bod must come to terms with the fact that he cannot continue to live, forever, in the graveyard. Once the threat posed by Jack has been dealt with, by Bod, and Bod can leave the graveyard, he still stays. It is safe, familiar, and it is where his family and home are. As much as he loves the life he has in the graveyard, another problem arises: time. As time passes and Bod grows up to a young man, he finds himself having trouble seeing the ghosts and wanting to experience life beyond his home and family, as all children are supposed to do.
While Bod's family is trapped in the graveyard, Bod is not, and in the end, Bod chooses to leave and grow up, exploring the possibilities available to him as part of the living world and not the ghostly, graveyard world. The Graveyard Book is a coming-of-age story, seemingly unconventional, yet totally conventional. The backdrop of the graveyard, instead of serving to frighten Bod, serves to enlighten Bod: the ghosts are dead; he is not, but obviously, life is finite and growing up surrounded by the dead enforces the preciousness and shortness of life. It is a carpe diem story of the best kind because the message is so understated, as all good themes should be.
Review Excerpts:
"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." Megan Honig, New York Public Library, School Library Journal
"*Starred Review* While a highly motivated killer murders his family, a baby, ignorant of the horrific goings-on but bent on independence, pulls himself out of his crib and toddles out of the house and into the night. This is most unfortunate for the killer, since the baby was his prime target. Finding his way through the barred fence of an ancient graveyard, the baby is discovered by Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a stable and caring couple with no children of their own—and who just happen to be dead. After much debate with the graveyard’s rather opinionated denizens, it is decided that the Owenses will take in the child. Under their care and the sponsorship of the mysterious Silas, the baby is named “Nobody” and raised among the dead to protect him from the killer, who relentlessly pursues him. This is an utterly captivating tale that is cleverly told through an entertaining cast of ghostly characters. There is plenty of darkness, but the novel’s ultimate message is strong and life affirming." Holly Koelling, Booklist
Awards:
2009 Newbery Medal Winner
2009 Hugo Award for Best Novel
2009 Locus Award
2010 Carnegie Medal
Connections:
First off, this book begs to be read aloud or listened to, and there is no better source than MouseCircus for this book. Those who choose this route can listen to the author read the book and answer questions about it. Discovering this website was a delight to me because it was such a unique way of using an "audiobook."
Many readers/listeners who enjoy The Graveyard Book should also look at Gaiman's other works, particularly Coraline if they enjoyed the Gothic atmosphere of The Graveyard Book.
The Graveyard Book would make a really interesting Reader's Theater. I would love to see an upper elementary school or middle school class/group of kids do something like it with the book.
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