Book Review of The Graveyard Book

1.       BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gaiman, Neil. Ill. by Dave McKean. 2008. The Graveyard Book. New York: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-053094-5

2.       PLOT SUMMARY

Nobody Owens is a boy who bridges the worlds of the living and the dead.  When The man Jack brutally kills his family and attempts to kill him when he is a very small child, the Graveyard and its inhabitants take him under their wing and protect him as he grows to adulthood.  “Bod” has the Owenses as his loving parents, Silas as his wise guardian, and a host of other graveyard companions to care for him and look after him as the years go by.  Jack seeks to harm the boy, as do other creatures and characters weaved throughout the story; his graveyard family dutifully protects him.   When Bod is of age and the time comes for him to face Jack and leave the graveyard, claiming his life fully as his own, many mysteries come to light, Jack’s fate is sealed, and Nobody Owens is ready to LIVE.

              Grades 6 and up

3.       CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Truly a work of brilliance, The Graveyard Book is a story that will endure throughout generations of readers to come, as would a stately gravestone, fashioned with care.  Nobody Owens is a thoroughly endearing character who is undoubtedly brave and resilient at every turn.  Those of the graveyard who care for him are relatable, as well, and appreciated for the various protective roles they play to usher young Bod into adulthood.  Gaiman's authoritative, unassuming style consistently succeeds in creating a world that seems to come expansively alive, in spite of many of its characters' much-deadness.

The Lady on the Gray, as she comes to ensure Bod’s protective society, declares, “The dead should have charity,” and the reader is assured that Bod’s earthly mother’s imploring will be honored—her son will be cared for well.  Mysterious Silas lends a sturdy workability to the unlikely plot, and his gift of a bridge to Bod symbolizes the boy’s import as a connecting force between the worlds of the living and the dead.  Numerous near misses and misadventures illustrate the bravery of Bod and the dedication of the graveyard characters in their work to protect the boy.  As he is given "Freedom of the Graveyard," the setting is solidified, and the plot is made fully believable.  The characters leave relief prints along the pathway of the story, establishing the presence of the themes of familial duty, the indestructible power of love and of destiny, and the alchemical process of a child growing from fully dependent to fully independent, ready to embark upon the journey of life.  At the close of the novel, Gaiman, in his characteristically skilled voice, notes that a symbolic “tree that grew out of the gutter on the spire had fallen in the last storm, taking a handful of the slate-black roof tiles with it.”  Like this tree, Bod grew and thrived in the graveyard for a time, but this was never meant to be a permanent dwelling place for him, for he is full of life and ready to explore all that his days will hold for him:  “’I want to see life.  I want to hold it in my hands…I want everything.’”  

              Read it, experience it. Let it change you. It will.

4.       REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

JOHN NEWBERY MEDAL 2009

CARNEGIE MEDAL 2010

HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2009

From The Horn Book Magazine:  “Gaiman’s assured plotting is as bittersweet as it is action-filled—the ending, which is also a beginning, is an unexpected tearjerker—and makes this ghost-story-cum-coming-of-age-novel as readable as it is accomplished.”

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

From Booklist:  “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.”

5.       CONNECTIONS

Students could read Gaiman’s Coraline (2012) ISBN  0380807343 and study the two novels in conjunction, analyzing the author’s style, as well as similarities and differences of the two protagonists.

Students could perform a reader’s theater of The Graveyard Book in class or as an after school extracurricular book study activity.

Upon completion of the novel study, older students could read and engage in comparative analysis of Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.”