The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

Other authorsDave McKean (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 2008

Call number

JF GAI

Genres

Publication

HarperCollins (2008), Edition: First Edition, 320 pages

Description

Fantasy. Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. HTML: The original audiobook edition of the acclaimed novel, read by the author! The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, has sold more than one million copies and is the only novel ever to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal. Nobody Owens is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place??he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings??such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is the winner of the Newbery Medal, the Carnegie Medal, the Hugo Award for best novel, the Locus Award for Young Adult novel, the American Bookseller Association's "Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book," a Horn Book Honor, and Audio Book of the Year… (more)

Media reviews

VOYA
Gaiman writes with charm and humor, and again he has a real winner.
4 more
Like a bite of dark Halloween chocolate, this novel proves rich, bittersweet and very satisfying.
This is fine work, from beginning to end, and the best bedtime story read-aloud material I've encountered in a long time. Can't wait until my daughter's old enough to read this to.
When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them, and redeem any shortcomings.
While “The Graveyard Book” will entertain people of all ages, it’s especially a tale for children. Gaiman’s remarkable cemetery is a place that children more than anyone would want to visit. They would certainly want to look for Silas in his chapel, maybe climb down (if they were as brave
Show More
as Bod) to the oldest burial chamber, or (if they were as reckless) search for the ghoul gate. 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.
Show Less

User reviews

LibraryThing member timspalding
I wanted to like this and I did. But I'm too old and I don't read enough young adult fiction to enjoy the merely good, and despite winning the Newbery, that's all The Graveyard Book is. There were flashes of real brilliance—ghouls describing the pleasures of ghoulery comes to mind—but overall
Show More
it was diligence and competence from someone who can do much more. The episodic structure was by turns enjoyable and frustrating. Bod's entry into school felt particularly underdeveloped—it felt like plot development, and turned out to be a fake-out. Most disappointing was the failure to make me care deeply enough about the main character. We never get into his head, and his personality and character as the story progresses seems useful (and mostly static), rather than realistic or earned. Most young readers would, I think, instantly identify with Bod, as the main character and the kid in the story, and fill in the emotional details to their satisfaction. Adults, I think, require something more than that, or it feels "flat." Sure, it's unfair to judge a kids' book by adult standards. But isn't that what distinguishes the truly excellent kids books—reaching the kid in the adult, and the adult in the kid?
Show Less
LibraryThing member dk_phoenix
Let me start by saying: everyone in my town must be crazy, because I got this from the library and there isn't even a waiting list. What?!? So strange. But anyhow, did anyone else see Gaiman talk about this book on the Colbert Report? Gaiman is incredibly quick witted, and the interview was quite
Show More
funny... he held his own against Colbert, and it's definitely worth checking out! It certainly improved my level of respect for the man: he can speak well AND write well!

But, back to the book. So much has been said about this book that I feel there's little I can add, other than to go ahead and recommend it. There were a few occasions when the events of specific chapters seemed a bit random (but they were still very entertaining!) and I wonder if that's the influence of the Jungle Book coming through, perhaps those were chapters that were modeled after Kipling's work? After reading this, I think I will track down a copy of the Jungle Books and read them, as I suspect they'll be very worthwhile and nothing like the Disney film (as great as it is!).

I wouldn't say that the Graveyard Book is necessarily great reading for children on their own, but you know what? Children need more healthy fear in their lives, because sheltering them suppresses imagination... if I had a kid, I'd probably read this book with them and talk about it together.

In the end, it was a fun read with great writing, from an author who refuses to cater to the "norm" of today's children's fiction. I read it all yesterday afternoon, without a break - so when you pick this one up, be sure to give yourself a nice chunk of time to sit and enjoy it!
Show Less
LibraryThing member Lman
A true flight-of-fancy, The Graveyard Book is a perfect example of just where a vivid imagination can lead; where a fascinating construct of a world can leap into existence from an author musing and pondering amidst locales at once commonplace yet seeped in mystery, and which also hold an
Show More
underlying menace – places such as a graveyard.

Embracing a simple but sinister beginning, a precocious child, woken by the sounds of his family’s murderer, habitually escapes his cot, and therefore his own demise, by toddling off out the open front door of his home and into the nearby graveyard. Here he is – now orphaned - embraced by the resident ghosts, the Owens, and given a home and protection from this man who has inexplicably killed all his family and who, it stands to reason, must still be hunting him. Thus starts a series of adventures for Nobody Owens – Bod for short (some things never change, even in a graveyard) - with his new life growing up this otherworld under the watch of a formidable guardian, Silas.

A true ‘coming-of-age’ tale, this story simply comprises episodic chapters which recount Bod’s progression, participation and education through the years in his adopted world – and whose occupants and social rules differ wildly to those found standard beyond the gates. And here lies the delight and the joy – to me – espoused in the narrative. Whereas some readers may consider the account disjointed I enjoyed each instalment, enchanted by the inspired creativity meticulously built into Bod’s place and amongst the characters populating this sphere: the Freedom of the Graveyard, the lessons on Fading and Sliding and Dreamwalking and the inclusion of each owner’s epitaph, within their name and to depict their individuality - all afforded me immense satisfaction and entertainment.

For those expecting a taut plot–line then I suspect you may be disappointed; for those readers willing to ensconce themselves in an inventively-crafted, original concept regarding numerous real-estates haunting our urban environs, this book will be an absolute pleasure to read - a real treat. Superbly illustrated, this chronicles a fresh and unique vision, if at times quite dark; a whimsical exposition of gothic fantasy.
On the cover of my copy of The Graveyard Book there is a quote from author Diana Wynne Jones: ”The best book Neil Gaiman has ever written"; and I concur. What’s more, I shall never peruse a graveyard in quite the same manner again…

(Jun 17, 2009)
Show Less
LibraryThing member Eruantien
Before this book was published, I had read the short story it started out as in a collection of Gaiman's stories. I think it was M is for Magic. The story was very good, so I was excited when I learned that Gaiman had turned it into a novel. When I learned that it had won the 2009 Newberry, I knew
Show More
I had to read it. The Graveyard Book does not disappoint.

This is the story of a boy who lost his entire family as an infant to a mysterious murderer. He wandered from his home into the nearby graveyard where the dead and undead inhabitants take him in and protect him from those who want to destroy him. As he grows, he stumbles across adventure after adventure within the graveyard.

It's hard to decide what Neil Gaiman is best at. His world-building is excellent, his prose is gorgeous, and his characterization is excellent. The one thing that was a bit shaky in this book was the plot because there really isn't much of one. This is essentially a group of short stories tied in to a very basic plot. But the stories are so good, you won't mind.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Whisper1
This Newbery Medal award winner is marvelous. It is first and foremost a creative work of genius.

Baby Nobody Owens was saved from the fate of the rest of his family who were brutally murdered. A wandering soul, unaware of what was transpiring in the house, he crawled out of his crib, down the
Show More
steps, out of the house and crawled into the safety of a cemetery.

There the ghosts noticed a dark lanky menacing figure with a knife who sought the baby. When the spirit of the newly departed mother begged the ghosts to keep him safe, they complied. It took a village of spirits to raise the baby toward a life of safety and eventual freedom.

There were many themes in this book, including a Christ-like analogy of a baby destined to confront evil after escaping death at the hands of persecutors who sought to slay him because he was other worldly.

The humor amid the seriousness is a delight to behold, especially when Nobody traipses through the cemetery reading tombstones, discovering and communicating with historical figures, including the nameless “33rd President of the United States.”

As Nobody comes of age, he realizes that those in the cemetery remain the same and yet he changes. As he matures and ventures into the outside world, he realizes that to live, he must experience the pain of being “real.”

Highly recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member deadmanjones
4 years after publication, writing a glowing review of the graveyard book is already futile. Thousands of awards and plaudits have been bestowed, so what are you reading this for? It's an instant classic, a children's book that makes you sad not to be a child being swept along and inspired by it.
Show More
There is no redundancy to its narrative, every word thrilling, amusing or educating with the precision of an assassin's knife. Like Neverwhere before it, it takes it's lead from a multitude of myth and tradition and weaves its own creations into it seamlessly. It must surely take some inspiration from Alan Garner's namesake series The Stone Book Quartet, for its sense of place, of history and of continuity and morality are just as focused. It pulls no punches in its conclusion, but still leaves the reader as inspired for the future as its protagonist.

This is a fantastic novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member atimco
I'll admit it upfront: I'm not a Neil Gaiman fan. I've read several of his books and each left me asking, "what's all the fuss about?" Though I liked The Graveyard Book, it didn't wow me as it seems to have just about everyone else on the planet. Please note there are spoilers in this review.

As the
Show More
2009 Newbery Medal winner, The Graveyard Book has gotten a lot of press and so its plot is fairly well known. A young child toddles out of his house one night into a graveyard after his family is brutally and inexplicably murdered. The boy is adopted by the ghosts who reside there, who call him Nobody Owens (Bod for short). But the man who murdered Bod's family is still looking for him, and his shadow hangs over Bod's future.

One of Gaiman's stock techniques is to introduce elements of horror into his stories, even the ones geared for younger readers. There isn't any gratuitous gore because Gaiman understands the power of suggestion, leaving the real horrors to grow in the reader's imagination. I'd be hesitant to give this book to a young reader, though of course it would depend on the child.

The denouement is rather weak. The motivation of the Jacks is really not explored beyond the fact that Nobody Owens is the boy born to overthrow their order. Okay — ? What did their order actually do? Who foretold that Bod would overthrow it? There are other weak spots in the plot, like the pawn shop owner somehow randomly connecting Bod with the boy that disappeared eleven or twelve years before. Of course the pawn shop owner knows the Jack that tried to kill Bod, and calls up this dangerous fellow right away on the basis of nothing but unfounded (and frankly, unconvincing) suspicion. It just seems sloppy. Then Bod has some brushes with bullies once he starts going to school, and those chapters just don't fit with the rest of the story. They feel oddly transplanted from something else.

There are some things I really liked about the book, however. I grew up right next door to an old country graveyard and it was our playground, so it was fun to see a part of my childhood fictionalized. The characters are quite fun and I loved the way the people from different historical periods interacted with one another. There is a charm about the idea of a community of ghosts adopting a human child; it's almost a reversal of the changeling theme. And Scarlett's decision to have all her memories of Bod erased doesn't make for the usual happy ending, but it does bring a realistic touch to the relationship.

I'll give this three stars and say it was fairly enjoyable, but I haven't joined the fandom of Gaiman just yet.
Show Less
LibraryThing member souloftherose
This is exactly the sort of book I'd have loved when I was a child and I still loved reading it now. I'm not sure what age range it would be most appropriate for though as the first chapter could certainly be quite scary.

In the first chapter of this book, a young toddler's family are killed by a
Show More
mysterious and definitely very creepy assassin identified only as 'the man Jack'. The toddler, however escapes and toddles to the graveyard at the end of his street. The ghosts there agree to take the boy in and protect him from the assassin until he is older. They call the boy 'Nobody' or 'Bod' for short and as he grows up he is cared for and taught by the ghosts but all the time the man Jack is searching for the child who escaped him.

The book itself is completely magical, perfect escapism and beautifully illustrated. I felt very sad to have to return this one to the library.
Show Less
LibraryThing member VandyGirl
“The Graveyard Book” is the story of Nobody Owens, a boy who as a baby escaped the house while the rest of his family was killed by a man named Jack. Bod (short for Nobody) escapes to a graveyard up the road where he is taken in by Mr. and Mrs. Owens. The interesting part is that the Owenses
Show More
have been dead for many years and are, in fact, ghosts. Bod is given “the freedom of the graveyard” which allows him to see in the dark, become invisible, and slide through walls like the ghosts do. As Bod grows up he has a series of adventures around and outside of the graveyard.

The book is good overall, albeit a little slow. More reluctant young readers may be intrigued by the story, but not enough to continue reading. Part of the reason for this is that it is told in a series of vignettes, like Rudyard Kipling’s original “The Jungle Book”, which slows the pace considerably. Certain of these vignettes are also quite long, another deterrent to some young readers. However, the charm and creativity will make up for pacing issues for most readers and also make it a great book to be read aloud as a family. Grades 6-9.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MickyFine
When a toddler wanders into the graveyard, the ghosts that reside there are thrown into an uproar. How can they possibly care for a living child? But Mr. and Mrs. Owens are adamant that they will take in the baby, whom they name Nobody (Bod for short). And so Bod grows up in the graveyard learning
Show More
the basics of Fading and Dreamwalking while also remaining curious about the world outside the graveyard gates and the murders of his family that led him to the graveyard to begin with.

Gaiman's ability to write charming but spooky novels always delights me and The Graveyard Book was not a disappointment. The tales of Bod's life in the graveyard are by turns sweet and scary but always entertaining and I appreciated the episodic nature of the novel as it allowed Bod to grow up quickly over the course of the novel. I was thoroughly delighted by the slow reveal of the villain and found the overall concept very clever. Additionally, the illustrations by Dave McKean add an extra element of creepiness that enhances the atmosphere of the novel. And of course, being Neil Gaiman, there are also some truly beautiful sentences woven into the narrative that I found particularly moving.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Where do I begin with the macabre delight that is The Graveyard Book? The first sentence leads you to believe you are about to embark on a dark and twisted adventure. But by the end of the first chapter you are realizing that once again Neil Gaiman’s writing can’t be pigeon-holed in any way.
Show More
The Graveyard Book is a great fantasy read, focused, wry, observant and, most of all, fun.

A simple story of a toddler that fate helps to escape the clutches of a murderer who came in the night and wiped out his whole family. The child is drawn to a nearby cemetery and is adopted by a ghostly couple, and assigned a guardian to oversee the day to day operations of bringing up a child. Nobody (as he is called) grows to maturity in a surprisingly safe and secure environment. Protected, nurtured and schooled by the various haunts and creatures of the night that abide in the graveyard, they diligently prepare him for the dangers that lurk outside the gates of the graveyard.

This unique book was based on Gaiman’s take on Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. We are thus treated to this magical graveyard world that is populated by interesting creatures, who by the way, often possess amusing epitaphs, and learn, as in The Jungle Book, that families don’t have to be gene based as long as the love and emotional connection is there. So what began as dark and twisted, actually was very sweet and caring.

Another masterpiece from the extraordinary mind of Neil Gaiman.
Show Less
LibraryThing member elbakerone
This book is Neil Gaiman one hundred percent in his element as a master storyteller! The book tells the tale of a boy named Nobody Owens (Bod, for short) who is raised by a cemetery full of ghosts after his family is mysteriously murdered when he is only two years old. Inspired by Kipling's Jungle
Show More
Book, each chapter of The Graveyard Book stands as a short story, with Bod growing two years older in each tale.

Peppered with Gaiman's signature mix of macabre humor and unpredictable plot, the vignettes are seamlessly woven together into a novel that is thoroughly captivating. This book is a must read for long-time Gaiman fans as well as those new to his work!
Show Less
LibraryThing member Phantasma
I usually adore anything by Neil Gaiman and I really, really, really wanted to like this book. I love the premise. It just...never worked for me. Bod never learns how to exist in the living world and, by the end of the book, it was clear he would HAVE to. There were things that needed more
Show More
explanation and things that needed less. I usually adore creative children's materials but this was just...eh. Eh bordering on "blah"
Show Less
LibraryThing member kimmclean
This was a fun read. It is about "bod", a little boy whose family is killed one night by a knife yielding maniac, yet as a baby at the time, bod crawls out of his crib down into the town cemetery to escape. The ghosts of the graveyard take in the baby and name him "Nobody Owens", "bod" for short.
Show More
Bod resides in the world of half living, half dead as he can see the spirits that no one else can see, plus he can sometimes fade between worlds when needed. At age 5 he befriends a little girl who visits him in the graveyard to play, but then she moves away. His ghost parents feel he needs proper friends and an education so he attends the local school but hooks up with some bullies and draws too much attention to himself so they take him out. When he becomes a teen, the little girl friend returns and helps him find out the real story about his family and the killer. It is a fun read, intense, fantastical but light enough for the 10 and up group. The only sensitive part would be that the family is killed with knife and it is described in some detail with blood.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Phrim
The Graveyard Book actually reads as a collection of connected short stories than one grand novel. Here, Gaiman does an excellent job of making the supernatural upbringing of the main character, Bod, seem completely familiar. While we can all associate with the stories of parenting and childhood
Show More
curiosity, the placement of these familiar scenes within a world of graveyards, ghosts, and arcane murderers really makes it compelling. Gaiman leaves hints of a greater world order than is seen by Bod, forcing the reader to frame his own knowledge of folklore within the world the author constructs.
Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
This not quite modern Mowgli has real enemies to hide from and is adopted by an assortment of ghosts and has a dark, dangerous neither dead nor alive guardian. The book episodically builds to the final confrontation and aftermath. Sort of an origin story with nowhere to go.
LibraryThing member Rivendell
Gaiman acknoweledges the contribution of the Just So Stories in this book - I found a whole host of echos of some of my favourite children's books here - but this isn't to suggest it's 'derivative' meaning 'cobbled toget...her and nothing new' - it's superbly crafted, and continues its traditions.
Show More
I do hope young people today enjoy reading it as much...
Show Less
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
My friend, Stephanie at Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-Holic, is the one who convinced me to read this book. Her gushing over anything by Neil Gaiman, and my complete trust in anything she loves sealed my fate as to whether I would eventually pick up this book or not. I owe her, yet again, for
Show More
this because The Graveyard Book is an amazing book.



I tend to shy away from horror or anything remotely scary. If a scene gets too intense, I have to put down the book and switch to something lighter (because I'm a huge coward). Mr. Gaiman got me up to the point where I was getting ready to put down the book but never took me over the edge where I had to do so. I was so engaged while reading that what felt like a little time and only a few pages grew into a lot of time and many pages without me realizing it. I was shocked when I saw that after two nights of bedtime reading (typically the twenty minutes or so that I can last before literally passing out), I was more than halfway done with the book. I was kept so enthralled with the book that time, and the pages, literally flew.

The Graveyard Book is filled with great characters. Bod, who struggles to maintain his humanity even when he does not realize just how unique he is, gains the reader's sympathy from the moment he crawls out of his crib. Silas, as his guardian, is more his father figure than Bod's "true" father, the ghostly Mr. Owens. In his mysterious way, he does more to teach Bod about life beyond the graveyard than Bod truly realizes. There is a sense of danger and yet of complete and utter safety that exists around Silas that makes me think there is definitely another story there (hint, hint Mr. Gaiman).

I love how the horror and the mythical elements are not overdone. Any other author could have truly made the ghouls grotesque and horrific or even made Ms. Lupescu terrifying. Rather, I felt that Mr. Gaiman respected and gave tribute to each legend. This was his homage to each mythical character, if you will. That respect made them friendlier but also more realistic. It is much easier to imagine Mr. Gaiman's definition of ghosts in a cemetery than some other versions of them.

As I mentioned, I felt that Mr. Gaiman did a fantastic job of taking the reader right up to the edge of terror without going overboard. Even though it is YA, I was waiting to read it first before I gave it to my nine-year-old to read. I was afraid the subject matter was a bit too mature for him. Now that I've finished, I can't wait for him to read it to see his reaction. If I liked it so much, I can only imagine how someone in the target audience will react to it.

I definitely recommend this to anyone interested in ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night!
Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
When I heard that Gaiman was releasing another book I was very excited and I am happy to say that this book met all of my expectations. Gaiman is such an excellent storyteller.

This book expands on one of the short stories in "M is for Magic" by Neil Gaiman. In that story we meet Bod, a boy who
Show More
lives in a graveyard. This book tells about how Bod got there and of the adventures he had there. You learn more about the mysterious Jack too! In fact I believe chapter 4 or 5 of The Graveyard Book, is actually an exact reprint of this story.

The story starts with a creepy killer named Jack who kills Bod's whole family (trust me no spoilers here, this happens in the first page); Bod as a small, curious toddler escapes to the graveyard. The book is interesting in that for the first two-thirds of the book each chapter is more of a short-story about Nobody Owens (Bod). Initially there is a large time span between each chapter and in each chapter (short-story) we learn about one of Bod's adventures in the Graveyard. As you get towards the end of the book things happen closer together and the chapters turn into more of what you would consider a standard chapter.

It is fascinating to hear about a boy who is raised in a graveyard by ghosts. Bod develops into and strong and very interesting character, that you can't help but love. Silas, the guardian of the graveyard, is also fascinating. Gaiman, as usual, adds an ironic touch to the story by showing how similar Bod's issues when growing up are with any other childs.

As for being a kids' book; for the most part the book would be okay to read to a young child. The first chapter, where Jack murders Bod's family, I found the be extremly creepy; so I would shy away at reading this chapter to a young child. Many of the other chapters are also scary. If a child under 10 was going to read this book, I would say a parent should read through it first and then you can read it together and skip any inappropriate parts. This book, naturally, deals a ton with death and what it means to be dead.

I absolutely loved this book. I thought the age level was a bit higher than Gaiman's Coraline. People who complain about Gaiman being too morbid, haven't read enough Gaiman. He is like the young adult, fairy tale version of Stepan King...many of his stories are crafted to make you think and feel slightly uncomfortable. This was absolutely a wonderfully crafted story, it's one I am keeping to add to my book collection.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Nandakishore_Varma
I remember reading The Jungle Book in translation while in the fourth grade, and being spellbound by Kipling's gifts as a storyteller. I remember reading the original in English as a young man and still feeling the magic afresh. I had not expected it to happen a third time... but it did. Thanks to
Show More
Neil Gaiman.

The Graveyard Book is a thinly disguised parody of, and a tribute to, The Jungle Book. Only, the Indian Jungle here has been translated to an English graveyard; Sher Khan has been transformed into the man Jack; the wolf pack, into a bunch of ghosts; and Bhaloo and Bagheera into Silas the vampire and Miss Lupescu the werewolf. Even the bandar-log are present as the eerily comic ghouls. Mowgli's counterpart is Nobody Owens, affectionately known as Bod, who grows up in the graveyard the same way Mowgli grows up in the jungle: a human boy living like a ghost, existing in the twilight land between death and life.

However, this book is much more than a take-off on Kipling's masterpiece. Inspired by the timeless classic, Gaiman has created a masterpiece of his own: a book which can be enjoyed by old and young readers alike. It is genuinely creepy in many places without losing the basic sunny nature of the story. The author's knowledge of Celtic folklore is evident throughout (I was similarly impressed by his almost encyclopaedic grasp of mythology in American Gods). The novel exudes an old-world charm of the English countryside.

But mind you, for all its lightheartedness, the main story is dead serious: literally a matter of life and death for its young protagonist.

This is a fun read. Enjoy!
Show Less
LibraryThing member nicholspdx
I was completely enjoying this book until the end and then I could not put it down. The set up was a great story in itself and then the energy of the conclusion was twice the fun. And so many things to think about throughout, like why did the author choose the names for the ghouls as he did? Victor
Show More
Hugo? The 33rd President of the United States? These two still have me thinking 2 weeks later.
Show Less
LibraryThing member nomadreader
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is the story of Bod, a boy who was orphaned as a baby when his parents and older sister were murdered. He escaped to the cemetery, where he lives and is able to see the ghosts who dwell there.

The Graveyard Book is both dark and funny, which is a difficult
Show More
combination to achieve, but Gaiman does. Bod is smart, and given his interactions with dead people from hundreds of years, he was a fantastic grasp of history, the history of language and customs. All the ghosts speak and act in the manners of their times. The mystery was compelling, even for me as an adult reader. The story is accessible, but isn't elementary. I adored The Graveyard Book, and I think it has the crossover appeal for teens and adults the Harry Potter books do.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Erin92486
Awesome story about ghost having charity and taking in a toddler who manages to escape the man who murders his family. The narration is unique with snippets of epitaphs and vivid details. The characters of the graveyard will melt your heart. The adventures will stir imagination. The end will have
Show More
you wishing for a sequel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DevourerOfBooks
One night, a baby boy climbs out of his crib, down the stairs, and through the front door that has been left open, right into an old graveyard. Good thing, too, because an evil man named Jack had just finished killing his parents and older sister and was on his way to kill the baby as well. The man
Show More
Jack follows the boy to the graveyard but, once there, the child is adopted by a ghost couple and the murderer is escorted out of the graveyard and away from the boy by a mysterious figure named Silas.

Named Nobody Owens, Bod for short, by the denizens of the graveyard, the boy spends his childhood playing among tombstones with ghosts as companions, warned never to leave the graveyard, as the man Jack is still out to kill him.

Man, this book is kind of scary for kids! Of course, as Neil himself has said, there has always been a dark side to children’s stories (think original fairy tales). The first half of the story was entertaining, but seemed to me to be sort of meandering, largely unconnected stories about Bod’s life growing up in the graveyard. Sure, there were some exciting adventures he had, but I didn’t see how they could be cohesive.

I shouldn’t have doubted Neil Gaiman. All of the pieces that seemed disparate came together at the climax of the story. This turned out to be a very enjoyable story, and listening to the audiobook with Gaiman narrating was great. I definitely wouldn’t give this to young kids to listen to, though.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
I flat-out loved this. It's my second book by Gaiman--my third if you count Good Omens, which Gaiman co-wrote with Terry Pratchett. I do love Good Omens more, and that tempted me to dock this a star to show that distance, but goodness with this just such an awesome read--particularly after trying
Show More
to make my way through Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which I've been finding tedious, I have to give it top marks. This, in contrast, was a blast to read. Gaiman wrote that one of his inspirations was Kipling's The Jungle Book, and I could see that. His Bod Owens is a Mowgli of the graveyard--a real live boy growing up amongst ghosties and ghoulies rather than the jungle. As Gaiman wrote: it takes a graveyard to raise a child... This book just delighted me with its imaginative world building and vivid characters that would make Dickens--or Kipling--proud. The book can be found inhabiting the children's section, but this adult certainly found it an unalloyed pleasure.
Show Less

Awards

Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2009)
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award (Honor — Fiction & Poetry — 2009)
Audie Award (Finalist — Thriller/Suspense — 2009)
Locus Award (Finalist — Young Adult Novel — 2009)
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 2011)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Young Adult Literature — 2008)
Mythopoeic Awards (Finalist — Children's Literature — 2009)
Great Stone Face Book Award (Nominee — 2010)
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novel — 2009)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2010)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2012)
Newbery Medal (Medal Winner — 2009)
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2013)
British Fantasy Award (Nominee — August Derleth Fantasy Award — 2009)
Nēnē Award (Nominee — 2012)
Indies Choice Book Award (Winner — Young Adult Fiction — 2009)
Garden State Teen Book Award (Winner — Grades 6-8 — 2011)
Thumbs Up! Award (Honor — 2009)
Oregon Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2011)
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Nominee — 2011)
Black Quill Award (Nominee — 2008)
Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award (Finalist — Finalist — 2009)
Golden Archer Award (Nominee — 2010)
Booktrust Teenage Prize (Winner — 2009)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2011)
Evergreen Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2011)
Isinglass Teen Read Award (Nominee — 2010)
Hampshire Book Awards (Shortlist — Hampshire Book Award — 2010)
CYBILS Awards (Winner — 2008)
Locus Recommended Reading (Young Adult — 2008)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2009)

Pages

320

ISBN

0060530928 / 9780060530921
Page: 7.997 seconds