Summary: The story opens with murder. A toddler has somehow escaped the slaughter of his entire family and makes his way down the road to the graveyard, where sympathetic ghosts take him in and raise him for his parents. The ghosts understand what the child does not: that the murder of his family was really an effort to kill him. The ghosts christen him Nobody Owens, or "Bod" for short. Bod grows up happily, learning to fade away, move in and out through solid surfaces, and other ghostly activities. Bod eventually grows up, though, and must be re-assimilated into the land of the living. He tries a stint at school, which is largely unsuccessful. When his presence among the living is noticed by the society who seeks his death, Bod must travel to a dark and dangerous place to overthrow them once and for all.
Gaiman, N., & McKean, D. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: Harper Collins Children's Books.
My Impressions: This book captivated me from the opening page. I was almost desperate to see what would become of the baby who escaped his family's murder. The genius of Gaiman's writing is that he takes a scene that should be completely emotionally charged and somehow renders it impassive without detracting from its impact. Every time the book seemed to veer toward the emotional, the maudlin nature vanished, like the ghosts in the graveyard. The story of Bod's growing up with such a rag tag group of mentors harkens back to Oliver Twist and many other orphan stories, but the take is so original the reader doesn't mind the homage. The climax is suitably suspenseful, and the final confrontation with the Man Jack is eerie and triumphant, all in one. Gaiman said he was surprised this book won the Newbery, as he didn't intend to write a children's book. The book, however, is a bildungsroman that transcends both the age of its protagonist and the ages of its readers to have a broad appeal.
Reviews:
"A lavish middle-grade novel, Gaiman's first since Coraline , this gothic fantasy almost lives up to its extravagant advance billing. The opening is enthralling....When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them, and redeem any shortcomings. Ages 10–up." - Publisher's Weekly
The graveyard book. (September 29, 2008). Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-053092-1.
"Lucid, evocative prose...and dark fairy-tale motifs imbue the story with a dreamlike quality. Warmly rendered by the author, Bod's ghostly extended family is lovable anachronistic; their mundane, old-fashioned quirks add cheerful color to a genuinely creepy backdrop....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." -- Horn Book
Gross, C. E. (2008). [The graveyard book] [book review]. The Horn Book, 84(6).
Uses in the Library: A display of "spooky reads" for Halloween.
Gaiman, N., & McKean, D. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: Harper Collins Children's Books.
My Impressions: This book captivated me from the opening page. I was almost desperate to see what would become of the baby who escaped his family's murder. The genius of Gaiman's writing is that he takes a scene that should be completely emotionally charged and somehow renders it impassive without detracting from its impact. Every time the book seemed to veer toward the emotional, the maudlin nature vanished, like the ghosts in the graveyard. The story of Bod's growing up with such a rag tag group of mentors harkens back to Oliver Twist and many other orphan stories, but the take is so original the reader doesn't mind the homage. The climax is suitably suspenseful, and the final confrontation with the Man Jack is eerie and triumphant, all in one. Gaiman said he was surprised this book won the Newbery, as he didn't intend to write a children's book. The book, however, is a bildungsroman that transcends both the age of its protagonist and the ages of its readers to have a broad appeal.
Reviews:
"A lavish middle-grade novel, Gaiman's first since Coraline , this gothic fantasy almost lives up to its extravagant advance billing. The opening is enthralling....When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them, and redeem any shortcomings. Ages 10–up." - Publisher's Weekly
The graveyard book. (September 29, 2008). Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-053092-1.
"Lucid, evocative prose...and dark fairy-tale motifs imbue the story with a dreamlike quality. Warmly rendered by the author, Bod's ghostly extended family is lovable anachronistic; their mundane, old-fashioned quirks add cheerful color to a genuinely creepy backdrop....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." -- Horn Book
Gross, C. E. (2008). [The graveyard book] [book review]. The Horn Book, 84(6).
Uses in the Library: A display of "spooky reads" for Halloween.
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