By: Neil Gaiman
Year: 2008
Genre: Children (older elementary)
In The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman has created a charming allegory of childhood. Although the book opens with a scary scene—a family is stabbed to death by “a man named Jack”—the story quickly moves into more child-friendly storytelling. The sole survivor of the attack—an 18-month-old baby—escapes his crib and his house, and toddles to a nearby graveyard. Quickly recognizing that the baby is orphaned, the graveyard’s ghostly residents adopt him, name him Nobody (”Bod”), and allow him to live in their tomb. Taking inspiration from Kipling’s The Jungle Book, Gaiman describes how the toddler navigates among the headstones, asking a lot of questions and picking up the tricks of the living and the dead. In serial-like episodes, the story follows Bod’s progress as he grows from baby to teen, learning life’s lessons amid a cadre of the long-dead, ghouls, witches, intermittent human interlopers. A pallid, nocturnal guardian named Silas ensures that Bod receives food, books, and anything else he might need from the human world. Whenever the boy strays from his usual play among the headstones, he finds new dangers, learns his limitations and strengths, and acquires the skills he needs to survive within the confines of the graveyard and in wider world beyond. —Heidi Broadhead
Neil Gaiman is my favorite author (although I haven’t read the graphic novels—Sandman—that he is most famous for). He is a British author with a wicked sense of humor. Several of his books have been made into movies (ha ha, not going to say which ones in this entry because I want to review those, too!). His are the books I read over and over.
“The Graveyard Book” is his second major work aimed at the late-elementary age. It begins with a pretty brutal murder of a family (though NOT described in detail). The sole-survivor is a toddler who’s curiosity led him out of the house before he was found. He toddles to a nearby cemetery where he is adopted by a couple who happens to be dead. This keeps him safe from the man trying to kill him (”Jack”). The book follows the boy, eventually named “Bod” (short for “Nobody”), as he grows up and has to deal with being a living human with only dead friends and family. He experiences life outside the cemetery, but it never works out the way Bod expects because the rules of living in a cemetery are not the same as living in the, well, living world.
I enjoy reading Gaiman because his books flow well and deal with the absurd-while-still-supernatural in the real world. His main characters are usually quite flawed but still relatable and likable. This book is no different. I read it very quickly, partially because it is a short, easy-to-read book. With “The Graveyard Book”, Gaiman collaborates with his long-time-partner, illustrator Dave McKean (Gaiman wrote and McKean designed and directed the 2005 movie, MirroMask. This is a great movie if you’re looking for something visually stunning and quite a bit different). I like these images because they give you a feel for the characters and surroundings, but don’t in anyway compromise the reader’s own imagination.
“The Graveyard Book” isn’t for everyone. His first elementary book, “Coraline” (okay, I gave you one of the books-into-movies) is loved by my children. They have all read it multiple times, including in school. I loaned “The Graveyard Book” to one of my daughter’s third grade teachers and she loved it. I loaned “Coraline” to my elementary school teacher brother-in-law and he couldn’t get past the first couple pages. Gaiman is a one of those authors you either really like or just don’t get. I, obviously, really like him!
There are some scary parts (creepy scary, not bloody scary) and some unsavory characters. Older elementary age (third and up) should have no problems. While this might be an okay book to read to younger kids, I would suggest reading it together to talk about some of the scary things.
As a side note, rumor has it that Gaiman lives not-to-far out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. He is the only author I would LOVE (love love love) to meet and get an autograph from. So if you run into him, could you send him to my blog?
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars