Genre #6 Book Review #1 : Neil Gaiman - THE GRAVEYARD BOOK

1.Bibliography –

Gaiman, N. (2008). THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. Ill. by Dave McKean. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children’s Books. ISBN: 978-0-06-053093-8

2. Plot Summary –

“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” (Broadhead, H., 2009).


“A delicious mix of murder, fantasy, humor and human longing, the tale of Nobody Owens is told in magical, haunting prose. A child marked for death by an ancient league of assassins escapes into an abandoned graveyard, where he is reared and protected by its spirit denizens” (ALSC, 2009).



3. Critical Analysis -

a. Characters –
The main characters in this story are “Bod” which is short for Nobody Owens, his adoptive parents (Master and Mistress Owens), his guardian Silas, one of his teachers, the wolf - Miss Lupescu, his “alive” childhood friend - Scarlett Amber Perkins, his witch friend - Elizabeth “Liza” Hempstock, Jack – his family’s killer and a few other inhabitants of the graveyard. Other characters from the town include Maureen “Mo” Quilling and Nick Farthing – the school bullies and Bod’s classmates, Mrs. Perkins (Scarlett’s mother), Abanazer Bolger - the pawn shop owner, and Mr. Frost – who’s first name turns out to be Jack!


“The chattering dead make a pact. A decision is made, and shelter is granted to the tiny fellow, who has no inkling of his peril. He has no parents, no place, and no name. But the kind-hearted spirits will not let him freeze, or starve, or meet his end by a murderer’s blade. They wrap the breathing boy in a shroud. They call him Nobody, for he looks like nobody but himself” (Geer, T., 2009).


“Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead” (Gaiman, N., 2008).


“Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a Partnership. Married for 250 years yet childless all this time, they adopt the yellow-haired boy as their own and love him accordingly. They bring him into their lovely little tomb by the daffodil patch, and there they raise him to be clever and careful. They raise him to be wary of the living.

Silas, a Caretaker. The graveyard’s caretaker serves as Nobody’s guardian until he might guard himself, for the insubstantial dead must stay with their bones — and they have no means to nourish a living child. Teacher, counselor, and vigilant champion, Silas is not alive, but he is not dead. And unlike the ghosts, he may move among the living in order to acquire food, medicine, and other necessities.

Miss Lupescu, a Teacher. Foreign and strange, and a terrible cook, Miss Lupescu serves as substitute guardian and general tutor when Silas is called away. She may seem cold and somewhat uncaring, but she is a formidable woman and she has vowed to watch over Nobody, whether he wants her to or not.

Liza Hempstock, a Witch. She might be dead, but she still has her magic. Buried in the potter’s field outside the confines of the blessed graveyard property, she wishes for a headstone to mark her resting place and she wishes for a friend. One part trickster and one part helping hand, Liza is fickle but mostly fair … and honestly fond of the living boy from the next patch over.

Scarlett Amber Perkins, a Girl. The cemetery’s dead children make good playmates, but sometimes a living boy might wish for a bit of living company. Scarlett Amber Perkins roams the park beside the cemetery; her mother thinks that her daughter has found an imaginary friend. But as the little girl grows up, Nobody becomes harder and harder to explain away.

The Ghouls. With their silly titles and preposterous claims to fame, the ghouls are violent, strong, and perfectly daft. Their gate is a dangerous, tempting place; and Nobody knows how to find it. He even knows how to open it.

The Sleer. At the bottom of a very dark barrow, beneath a hill, in a pit lost to history and myth, an ancient creature called the Sleer waits for its master to return. It hunkers deep below the earth with three objects of uncertain value and power—which it guards with threats and malice.

Every Man Jack. The less that is said of Jack, the better. His nature is an elaborate puzzle — a series of painful questions with answers that slit throats and breaks bones. What fiend would murder a family while it slept? What monstrous brute would seek to slaughter a toddling child in its crib? This Jack has his reasons, and those reasons reek of evil and rot. He’ll spare no trouble and show no mercy in his quest to end the boy called Nobody Owens” (Geer, T., 2009).


b. Plot –
“Hear this tragic tale: a sleeping family, a talented murderer, and an adventurous toddler — orphaned, but not assassinated. Small and alone, by accident and luck he escapes the scene of the crime and climbs a grassy hill to safety. At the top of the hill the boy finds a fence, and on the other side, a dark, quiet place.
And what is to become of him?

The boy is welcomed on the hill where the dead do not sleep, and the graveyard residents rally to protect him. For outside the fence that separates a city from its ghosts, a dastardly killer is patient and persistent. The danger is real, and it is alive. It is hunting, and wise, and evil. A little child must not be left to the merciless knife of a professional fiend.
But who will watch over him?” (Geer, T., 2009).


The story is about Bod (Nobody Owens) a toddler that escapes a killer’s knife and winds up in a graveyard. The ghosts (Mr. and Mrs. Owens) are put in charge of raising Bod as their own, by the baby’s deceased mother. The story shows Bod growing up in the safe haven of the graveyard with the help of his guardian Silas and the other residents (ghost, ghouls, etc.). Learning a lot of things about the living world and the world of the dead, Bod grows up knowing that the killer is still out there, in the real world of the living, looking for him.


“When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard?

Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. But for Bod there is also the danger of the murderer still looking for him — after all, he is the last remaining member of the family.

A stunningly original novel deftly constructed over eight chapters, featuring every second year of Bod’s life, from babyhood to adolescence. Will Bod survive to be a man?” (Bloomsbury, 2009).


The plot is very creative and original and keeps the reader’s interest! It involved a few quests such as when Bod wants to get a headstone for Liza, or go to school and learn, and to dance the “Danse Macabre” – all of which had tasks to accomplish or obstacles to overcome. Not only were the situations believable, but so was the villian that Bod had to try to vanquish!


“Somewhere in contemporary Britain, ‘the man Jack’ uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he ‘looks like nobody but himself,’ grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provides the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. The child Bod's behavior is occasionally too precocious to be believed, and a series of puns on the name Jack render the villain a bit less frightening than he should be, though only momentarily. Aside from these small flaws, however, Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family” (Honig, M., 2009).


c. Setting –
The setting of the story is mostly in the “graveyard”, with the old, ancient tombs and caves in the hills, crypts and some old ruins; with a few exceptions with trips outside of its gates to more present day England. Even though Bod grows up in the graveyard, and it is hard to determine what era he is living in, there is reference to computers and the Internet that leads us to believe that it is more or less present time.


“The graveyard is a sacred place and well tended by its various attendants. It is quiet and homey, and there are worse places by far where a boy might grow up. But that is not to say that Nobody’s life is altogether simple or secure. Here and there lurk dangers unexpected and perils uncharted by the living. Though Nobody’s teachers instruct him in the ways of magic and caution, there are some threats a boy must face alone — and some lessons he must learn for himself” (Geer, T., 2009).


Neil Gaiman describes the Graveyard with such wonderful detail – you can almost imagine and visualize the surroundings in which Bod is growing up! Most of the details are integral parts of the story that play a part in Bod overcoming the villians in the end.


“There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy – an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned dity of ghouls, the strange and terrible manace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack – who has already killed Bod’s family….” (Gaiman, N., 2008).


d. Theme –
The main theme of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK reflects the universal truth that transcends time and place and is that of good versus evil; where good is more powerful than evil! The other themes present are friendship, love, hope and life!


“While a highly motivated killer murders his family, a baby, ignorant of the horrific goings-on but bent on independence, pulls himself out of his crib and toddles out of the house and into the night. This is most unfortunate for the killer, since the baby was his prime target. Finding his way through the barred fence of an ancient graveyard, the baby is discovered by Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a stable and caring couple with no children of their own—and who just happen to be dead. After much debate with the graveyard’s rather opinionated denizens, it is decided that the Owenses will take in the child. Under their care and the sponsorship of the mysterious Silas, the baby is named ‘Nobody’ and raised among the dead to protect him from the killer, who relentlessly pursues him. 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” (Koelling, H., 2009).


e. Style –
Neil Gaiman’s style in this book creates a clear and consistent point of view that not only encourages the reader to believe in the fantasy world but also creates a distinctive framework for the story. He uses distinct language for each of the characters in the story from the ancient beings to the characters of royalty, to the rich and the poor and the group of ghouls and beasts of the underworld.


“Although marketed to the younger YA set, this is a rich story with broad appeal and is highly recommended for teens of all ages” (Koelling, H., 2009).


“Neil Gaiman's fantasies have entranced both younger readers and adults; this gothic fantasy, a coming-of-age story modeled after The Jungle Book and with slight nods to Harry Potter, will appeal to all ages. By juxtaposing the world of the dead with the world of the living, Gaiman creates a fantastical world where the thoughtful protagonist comes to understand the power of family as he experiences the fear, pains, confusions, and joys of growing up. Critics praised each illustrated chapter as its own little gem, with moments both tender and terrifying—and each equally exciting. The Graveyard Book is sure to become a book to last the ages” (Bookmarks, 2008).


f. Awards & recognitions –

** The Graveyard Book won the The John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature. (January 27, 2009)

** The Graveyard Book was on the New York Times children’s bestseller list for 53 consecutive weeks




4. Review Excerpts –

** "A child named Nobody, an assassin, a graveyard and the dead are the perfect combination in this deliciously creepy tale, which is sometimes humorous, sometimes haunting and sometimes surprising." -- Newbery Committee Chair Rose V. Treviño


** THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is endlessly inventive, masterfully told, and, like Bod himself, too clever to fit into only one place. This is a book for everyone. You will love it to death. -– Holly Black, co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles


** THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is everything everyone loves about Neil Gaiman, only multiplied many times over, a novel that showcases his effortless feel for narrative, his flawless instincts for suspense, and above all, his dark, almost silky sense of humor. -– Joe Hill, author of HEART-SHAPED BOX


** It takes a graveyard to raise a child. My favorite thing about this book was watching Bod grow up in his fine crumbly graveyard with his dead and living friends. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is another surprising and terrific book from Neil Gaiman. -– Audrey Niffenegger, author of THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE


** THE GRAVEYARD BOOK manages the remarkable feat of playing delightful jazz riffs on Kipling’s classic Jungle Book. One might call this book a small jewel, but in fact it’s much bigger within than it looks from the outside. -– Peter S. Beagle, author of THE LAST UNICORN


** “After finishing THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, I had only one thought – I hope there’s more. I want to see more of the adventures of Nobody Owens, and there is no hight praise for this book.” -– Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series


** "This is, quite frankly, the best book Neil Gaiman has ever written. How he has managed to combine fascinating, friendly, frightening and fearsome in one fantasy I shall never know, but he has pulled it off magnificently - perfect for Halloween and any other time of the year." -- Diana Wynne Jones, author of The Chronicles of Chrestomanci


** "I wish my younger self could have had the opportunity to read and re-read this wonderful book, and my older self wishes that I had written it." -- Garth Nix, author of The Abhorsen Trilogy


** "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…this is a rich story with broad appeal." -- Booklist (starred review)


** "Wistful, witty, wise-and creepy. This needs to be read by anyone who is or has ever been a child." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)


** "Like a bite of dark Halloween chocolate, this novel proves rich, bittersweet and very satisfying." -- Washington Post


** "THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, by turns exciting and witty, sinister and tender, shows Gaiman at the top of his form. In this novel of wonder, Neil Gaiman follows in the footsteps of long-ago storytellers, weaving a tale of unforgettable enchantment." -- New York Times Book Review


** "Lucid, evocative prose and dark fairy-tale motifs imbue the story with a dreamlike quality... this ghost-story-cum-coming-of-age-novel is as readable as it is accomplished." -- Horn Book (starred review)



5. Connections –

“Neil Gaiman is the author of many highly acclaimed and award-winning books for children and adults, including the New York Times bestseller Coraline. He is also the author of the picture books The Wolves in the Walls and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, both illustrated by Dave McKean, Blueberry Girl, illustrated by Charles Vess, and The Dangerous Alphabet, illustrated by Gris Grimly. Among his many awards are the World Fantasy Award, the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the Bram Stoker Award. Originally from England, Gaiman now lives in the United States” (Jacketcover, 2008).

Some of Neil Gaiman’s books include:

** CORALINE
** M IS FOR MAGIC
** STARDUST

Other illustrated picture books by Neil Gaiman include:

** THE DANGEROUS ALPHABET
**MIRROR MASK
**THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS
**THE DAY I SWAPPED MY DAD FOR TWO GOLDFISH


Book Trailers:

Another thing that is fun to do with books is to make a book trailer to get others interested in reading the story. Here is an example of a book trailer for THE GRAVEYARD BOOK narrated by Neil Gaiman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_UUVwTaemk



Audio Book on CD:

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is also available in audio form on CD. I listened to a few chapters as the story was narrated by Neil Gaiman himself, and I was curious to hear how the writer narrated his own book. It was very well read, but I found that I was not paying as much attention to the story as I should have been; so I decided that I better read it myself.


References

ALSC, (2009). ALA Newbery medal homepage – 2009 winner – the graveyard book, retrieved on November 18, 2009, from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal.cfm


Gaiman, N. (2008). THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. Ill. by Dave McKean. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children’s Books. ISBN: 978-0-06-053093-8


Geer, T., (2009) The graveyard book - website, retrieved on November 18, 2009, from http://www.thegraveyardbook.com/story/


Bloomsbury, (2009). U.K. Bloomsbury editions: the graveyard book, retrieved on November 18, 2009, from http://www.thegraveyardbook.com/bloomsbury-editions/


Amazon, (1996 – 2009). THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, retrieved on November 16, 2009, from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0060530928/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books


Broadhead, H., (2009). Amazon.com review: The graveyard book, retrieved on November 16, 2009, from
http://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Book-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0060530928/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books


Honig, M., (2009) School library journal: The graveyard book, retrieved on November 17, 2009, from http://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Book-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0060530928/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books


Koelling, H., (2009). Booklist - The graveyard book, retrieved on November 17, 2009, from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0060530928/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books


Bookmarks Magazine, (2008). Bookmarks publishing: The graveyard book, retrieved on November 18, 2009, from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0060530928/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books