the graveyard book written by neil gaiman and illustrated by dave mckean

Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book, Illustrated by Dave McKean. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010. ISBN: 9780060530945

Plot Summary:

     Bod Owens is a boy whose parents got murdered when he was a baby. During the murders, Bod managed to crawl out of his crib into the safety of a graveyard where he was protected and adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Owens; a ghost couple. The Owens' take in Bod as their own and with the assistance Bod's guardian. As Bod continues to grow, he befriends a mortal girl named Scarlett Perkins. Together Scarlet and Bod explore the graveyard embarking on a journey to locate the graveyard's oldest occupant. 

Critical Analysis:

     The Graveyard Book is a Newbery Medal winning high fantasy work of fiction attributed by its incorporation of dark and supernatural forces while retaining literary qualities. The author, Neil Gaiman, introduces the protagonist, Nobody Owens, as he provides readers with the story how Bod's family was murdered and he escaped to safety where two ghosts adopted and raised him. Not only does Gaiman easily depict the protagonist, but he vividly describes the roles that each character plays in Bod's life and the plot of the story. The plot is introduced in the beginning of the novel as the description of how Bod grew up in a graveyard, thus providing the main setting for this novel, the graveyard. The growing themes of community, death, and good versus evil are depicted as the graveyard community raise a small mortal child together. Throughout the story, the author continually incorporates elements that encompass a high fantasy novel that appeal towards young adults. 

Awards Won:

John Newbery Medal (2009), Hugo Award for Best Novel (2009 & 2002), Carnegie Medal (2010), Locus Award for Best Young-Adult Book (2009), Cybils Awards for Fantasy & Science Fiction (2008), SFX Award for Best Novel (2010)

Review Excerpts:

"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….this is a rich story with broad appeal." - Booklist

"A lavish middle-grade novel, Gaiman's first since Coraline, this gothic fantasy almost lives up to its extravagant advance billing. The opening is enthralling: "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." Evading the murderer who kills the rest of his family, a child roughly 18 months old climbs out of his crib, bumps his bottom down a steep stairway, walks out the open door and crosses the street into the cemetery opposite, where ghosts take him in. What mystery/horror/suspense reader could stop here, especially with Gaiman's talent for storytelling? The author riffs on the Jungle Book, folklore, nursery rhymes and history; he tosses in werewolves and hints at vampires-and he makes these figures seem like metaphors for transitions in childhood and youth. As the boy, called Nobody or Bod, grows up, the killer still stalking him, there are slack moments and some repetition-not enough to spoil a reader's pleasure, but noticeable all the same. When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them, and redeem any shortcomings." - Publishers Weekly

"Gaiman, famous for his creepy and often scary tales, Coraline and The Wolves in the Wall, has created in his new novel something that is neither creepy nor scary, despite its chilling first chapter and spectral cast of characters. This is a story about the power of family—whatever form it takes—and the potential of a child who is raised with love and a sense of duty. Nobody Owens (Bod) is adopted by a couple of ghosts after narrowly escaping death at the hands of the mysterious man who murdered the rest of his family. After much debate, he is granted the "Freedom of the Graveyard" by its long dead inhabitants. His guardian, Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, brings him food and ensures he is educated in the ways of the dead and the living. Of course, life for young Owens is not all smooth sailing. Bod must face the ghoul gate, the ancient force that waits in the oldest grave, and the mysterious man who still searches for the boy he failed to kill. The story of an orphaned boy being hunted down by a secret society and protected by magic sounds familiar, but while the story of Harry Potter resonates here, the sympathetic, flawed, and ultimately very human character of Bod saves this from being merely a reshaping of Rowling's epic tale. In fact, Gaiman's title is an homage to Kipling's The Jungle Book. I cannot help thinking, however, that this novel should be the first in a series. There are too many questions unanswered. While I never really believed that Bod was ever in any real danger in the graveyard, a boy who sets off in to the world of the living with his "eyes and heart wide open" can only be headed for uncertainty." - Children's Literature

"Wistful, witty, wise-and creepy. Gaiman's riff on Kipling's Mowgli stories never falters, from the truly spine-tingling opening, in which a toddler accidentally escapes his family's murderer, to the melancholy, life-affirming ending. Bod (short for Nobody) finds solace and safety with the inhabitants of the local graveyard, who grant him some of the privileges and powers of the dead-he can Fade and Dreamwalk, for instance, but still needs to eat and breathe. Episodic chapters tell miniature gems of stories (one has been nominated for a Locus Award) tracing Bod's growth from a spoiled boy who runs away with the ghouls to a young man for whom the metaphor of setting out into the world becomes achingly real. Childhood fears take solid shape in the nursery-rhyme-inspired villains, while heroism is its own, often bitter, reward. Closer in tone to American Gods than to Coraline, but permeated with Bod's innocence, this needs to be read by anyone who is or has ever been a child." - Kirkus Reviews 

 "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 

Connections:

Customers who purchased this title also bought the following novels: Dead End in Norvelt, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Cross of Lead. 

Interactivity:

• Introduce this title during Halloween.
• Ask what are some of the benefits of being raised by ghosts.
• Have children draw what a house in a graveyard would look like.