The Graveyard Book

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gaiman, N. and McKean, D. 2008. The Graveyard Book. HarperCollins. ISBN-10: 0060530944.

PLOT SUMMARY

Neil Gaiman delivers a brilliant, creepy, yet-beautiful interpretation of a coming-of-age story about a young boy who is adopted by the dead. Dave McKean’s black and white illustrations set the eerie mood of the story. The main character, Bod (Nobody Owens), is a curious child who has lived his entire life in a graveyard. Bod escapes his home at eighteen months of age after the door has been left open by his family’s murderer, Jack. A ghost couple, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, along-side Sila, Bod’s guardian, make a promise to care for Bod and keep him safe. Bod is raised by the graveyard’s community and learns their ways. Bod meets different types of creatures from ghosts, vampires, witches, ghouls, and werewolves, etc. He learns from each of them, and gets to experience good vs. evil. Bod meets a real human girl, Scarlett, and is exposed to the human world and gets himself involved in several misadventures. He even enrolls in regular school, but ends up attracting too much attention to himself. As the years go by, Bod learns about Jack and his family. One thing leads to another and he ends up killing Jack, and destroys the “Jack brotherhood”. At the end of the story, Bod is ready to venture on his own and experience what the world has to offer. The graveyard is saddened, but they all know it is time to let him go into the world he belongs.

AWARDS:
John Newbery Medal 2009
Hugo Award for Best Novel 2009
Carnegie Medal- 2010
Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance 2015
Cybils Award For Fantasy  & Science Fiction 2008
Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book 2009
SFX for Best Novel 2010

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Gaiman is a complete artist at creating a story with such unique plot. The setting and characters are inventive, and the conflicts keep the readers interested in Bod’s adventures. Although this isn’t the typical coming-of-age story, the heartfelt relationships Bod creates are enough make readers feel a deep connection with the story. Readers will feel like they personally know the characters and keep wanting to learn more about them. The author does an incredible job at telling a dark story that, contrastingly, describes the bright life of a child amongst the dead. Bod brings life into the graveyard’s community; no pun intended. Bod is full of life, curious, and eager to know more. In the end he is ready to move on from his life behind the shadows. He is ready to make the transition into becoming an independent young adult. This story may resonate with readers who have lived a life that does not pertain to them, and the difficulties they have to undergo to become who they really are meant to be.  

EXCERPT REVIEW

THE NEW YORK TIMES: “Children will appreciate Bod’s occasional mistakes and bad manners, and relish his good acts and eventual great ones. The story’s language and humor are sophisticated, but Gaiman respects his readers and trusts them to understand.” 2009

THE GUARDIAN: “Gaiman's villains are a creation so creepy I would happily read a whole other novel just about them. And yes, they are indeed a pack of terrifying murderers, but children's books have always been filled with death - you can't have an orphan without at least two dead people, after all - and Gaiman's ultimate lesson is exactly right: get to know it, make friends with it, then forget about it and live your life.” 2008

CONNECTIONS

Classroom Activity: Art/Reading/ELA: Have students create a magical world capable of raising a child. Have them create specific characters as care-takers, teachers, and “bad guys and good guys”. Have students create small paragraphs to describe each character’s role in the community. Have students write a small fictional story including their new community.  

Library Activity: Month of October- Have students read The Graveyard Book. Students are encouraged to make a project showing their favorite character from the story. They are to create an image of the character and a short description of their role in the story and the impact they had on the main character of the story. Display a graveyard in the library with all the main characters of the story.