LS 5603 Book Review: THE GRAVEYARD BOOK

Fantasy

Bibliography
Gaiman, Neil. 2008. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. Ill by Dave Mackean. New York, NY: Thorndike Press. ISBN 9781401414410

Plot Summary
The book starts off with the murder of a toddler's family, while his family is being murdered the toddler wanders out the open door. Jack, the murder, follows the toddler into a graveyard. The new ghost, the toddler's mother, implores residents of the graveyard to protect her baby. All the residents of the graveyard agree to raise the toddler whom they name Nobody Owens. Silas, Nobody's guardian (who is neither alive nor dead), brings food to the graveyard so Nobody can eat. Nobody is safe in the graveyard but, when he starts to grow up and wants to be with "people who breath", his old nemesis Jack is still hunting for the toddler who escaped. In the end, with ingenuity and tricks learned from his graveyard friends Nobody is able to outwit Jack. Since Jack is no longer a threat Nobody is able to leave the graveyard and make his way in the world.

Critical Analysis
In order for a fantasy book to be successful, readers need to be able to suspend disbelief. Gaiman makes it easy for readers to suspend disbelief by making the story true unto itself. For example, one of the rules of Nobody's protection was that the protection only worked within the graveyard; the times that Nobody left the graveyard he got into some trouble and was hurt since he didn't have the protection of the graveyard.

The details of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK make it, forgive the pun, come alive. Whenever Nobody was talking to a ghost for the first time the new ghost character would be introduced with epitaph from their headstone, for example, "Thackeray Porringer (1720 - 1734, Son of the Above)". The author is also quite witty which makes the experience enjoyable for the reader in addition to a internally consistent plot line. One of the examples of the author's wittiness was, "Mother Slaughter's headstone, so cracked worn and weathered that all it said now was, LAUGH which had puzzled local historians for over a hundred years."

Review Excerpts
2009 Best Books for Young Adults Award
2009 Newberry Medal
2009 Outstanding International Books
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting."
Starred Review from BOOKLIST: "This is an utterly captivating tale that is cleverly told through an entertaining cast of ghostly characters."

Connections
* Have children create a book trailer, dust jacket, or an audio clip of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK.
* Have children read another book by Neil Gaiman and compare stories.