The Graveyard Book

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This is the British cover                             and the American cover.

Gaiman, N. (2008). The Graveyard Book. (McKean, D. illus.). Harper Collins Publishers. 312 pages. ISBN 97800605390921

Primary genre: fantasy

Other elements: mystery, paranormal, coming of age

Intended reader age: 8 and up

Synopsis:

Nobody Owens, prefers Bod, is not a normal boy; he is one who walks a line between the living and the dead. The ghostly inhabitants of a cemetery adopted Bod after the man Jack killed his family when he was just six-months old. Along with gaining this new family Bod is granted protection by his elusive guardian, Silas. As long as Bod remains in the graveyard and listens to his guardian he will remain safe because the man Jack has not stopped looking and intends to finish what he started all those years ago that night he set Bod on this path.

Review:

I first read this book shortly before it won the Newbery in 2009 and absolutely loved it. After re-reading, one of the aspects that particularly stuck out to me about this story is the sense of progression that is involved. Readers are not introduced to Bod at the stage in his life where he ready to confront the man that killed his family. The story advances and takes readers through the process of Bod learning to be a living person in a world filled with ghosts, and all of those lessons assist him in the end. Each chapter roughly covers different stages in Bod’s life: 6 months (told from other characters’ perspectives), 5 years (when he first meets Scarlett and the Sleer), 6 years (Miss. Lupescu and ghouls), 8 years (the witch and first expedition outside), 11 years (school and bullies), 14 years (Scarlett back and Jack), and 15 years (new beginnings). The Bod at five (because this is where we first get to read from his perspective) is the same Bod that faces the man Jack and sets out on his own in the end. The idea that we are a combination of our experiences and who we inherently are is never exactly stated but is smoothly delivered and hopefully one that many readers pick up on. The concept was expressed towards the end of the book by one of the final ghosts Bod interacted with; Mother Slaughter tells Bod, “ ‘You’re always you, and that don’t change, and you’re always changing, and there’s nothing you can do about it’ ” (p. 298). Even as a six-month-old Bod chose to explore and let his curiosity lead him and this trait did not change as he aged.