1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gaiman, Neil. 2008. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 780060530938
2. PLOT SUMMARY
The story began when a killer named Jack murdered almost an entire family, except for a baby boy who had climbed out of his crib and crawled away. As Jack looked for the boy, wanting to murder him too, the boy ended up in a cemetery. The boy was taken in by the inhabitants of the cemetery, who were the dead. The boy was named Nobody and called Bod for short. Bod was raised in the cemetery by his new parents, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, who were ghosts. Bod also had a guardian named Silas, who was neither alive nor dead, who protected him at all costs.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This story is a fantasy novel so it makes sense in this type of genre that most of the characters were ghosts and other such spiritual beings. The spirits in this story were believable in that they spoke and dressed according to the customs and ways of the world during the time in which they lived. There were ghosts in the graveyard from many different time periods all existing together, most of them getting along and helping each other. There were some monster type beings made up by the author such as a three-headed creature called the "Sleer", which added some interesting twists to the story. Bod was taught lessons such as "fading" (learning how to fade away from view) and dreamwalking (being able to appear in someone else's dreams) in addition to traditional human type lessons such as learning how to read and write. Bod was a typical young boy who was curious about the world around him in the graveyard that was his home as well as the world outside. The outside world was dangerous because the man named Jack was still looking for Bod so that he could kill him.
The plot of this story was very creative with many unexpected twists and turns, especially near the end of the novel. A little girl named Scarlett befriended Bod as she visited the cemetery with her parents. She eventually moved to Scotland with her parents and then came back years later with her mother, who had divorced her father. Scarlett became friends with Bod again and the friendship led to Jack finding Bod and trying to murder both Bod and Scarlett in the cemetery. With help from his adopted family and friends in the graveyard, Bod and Scarlett escaped without any harm. After the escape from Jack, Scarlett was made to forget all that she had seen, with the help of Silas. She and her mother returned to live a normal life in Scotland. After Jack was gone, Bod was able leave the cemetery that he had called home for the first fifteen years of his life, and go off to see the outside world.
The setting of the story was never mentioned by name, but it seemed to take place somewhere in England from the way the dead spoke and dressed. The often rainy and chilly weather also seemed to make England a likely setting for the story. The cemetery was described in vivid detail. The landscape, the actual gravestones, and the spirits were described so well that the reader could see them plainly without pictures. There were some black and white illustrations dispersed throughout the book depicting some of the characters and scenes, adding to the uniqueness of the book.
The theme of the book had to do mainly with good verses evil. The evil Jack (actually there were four of them, only one of whom killed Bod's family) ended up disappearing along with the other "Jacks of all trades," as the group of killers called themselves. Bod and Scarlett who were just innocent teenagers, were safe and free.
The style that was used by the author was appropriate to the story. The spirits spoke and dressed in ways that were believable to their own time period. New terms such as "dancing the macabray" (where the living danced with the dead), "the sleer", "dreamwalking" and "fading" were introduced in this story in a way that was authentic to the overall plot and feeling of the novel.
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Bookmarks Magazine: "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."
Inis - Children’s Books Ireland Magazine: "The Graveyard Book stretches to cover all genres and to meet the expectations of Gaiman’s legions of readers of all ages."
5. CONNECTIONS
*This book would be an excellent way to introduce middle school and high school students to fantasy fiction.
*Other books in the fantasy fiction genre:
Cherryh, C. J. FORTRESS OF OWLS. ISBN 0061020087
Norton, Andre. MIRROR OF DESTINY. ISBN 0380779765
*Other books by Neil Gaiman:
CORALINE. ISBN 006051048X
M IS FOR MAGIC. ISBN 0061254592
Gaiman, Neil. 2008. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 780060530938
2. PLOT SUMMARY
The story began when a killer named Jack murdered almost an entire family, except for a baby boy who had climbed out of his crib and crawled away. As Jack looked for the boy, wanting to murder him too, the boy ended up in a cemetery. The boy was taken in by the inhabitants of the cemetery, who were the dead. The boy was named Nobody and called Bod for short. Bod was raised in the cemetery by his new parents, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, who were ghosts. Bod also had a guardian named Silas, who was neither alive nor dead, who protected him at all costs.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This story is a fantasy novel so it makes sense in this type of genre that most of the characters were ghosts and other such spiritual beings. The spirits in this story were believable in that they spoke and dressed according to the customs and ways of the world during the time in which they lived. There were ghosts in the graveyard from many different time periods all existing together, most of them getting along and helping each other. There were some monster type beings made up by the author such as a three-headed creature called the "Sleer", which added some interesting twists to the story. Bod was taught lessons such as "fading" (learning how to fade away from view) and dreamwalking (being able to appear in someone else's dreams) in addition to traditional human type lessons such as learning how to read and write. Bod was a typical young boy who was curious about the world around him in the graveyard that was his home as well as the world outside. The outside world was dangerous because the man named Jack was still looking for Bod so that he could kill him.
The plot of this story was very creative with many unexpected twists and turns, especially near the end of the novel. A little girl named Scarlett befriended Bod as she visited the cemetery with her parents. She eventually moved to Scotland with her parents and then came back years later with her mother, who had divorced her father. Scarlett became friends with Bod again and the friendship led to Jack finding Bod and trying to murder both Bod and Scarlett in the cemetery. With help from his adopted family and friends in the graveyard, Bod and Scarlett escaped without any harm. After the escape from Jack, Scarlett was made to forget all that she had seen, with the help of Silas. She and her mother returned to live a normal life in Scotland. After Jack was gone, Bod was able leave the cemetery that he had called home for the first fifteen years of his life, and go off to see the outside world.
The setting of the story was never mentioned by name, but it seemed to take place somewhere in England from the way the dead spoke and dressed. The often rainy and chilly weather also seemed to make England a likely setting for the story. The cemetery was described in vivid detail. The landscape, the actual gravestones, and the spirits were described so well that the reader could see them plainly without pictures. There were some black and white illustrations dispersed throughout the book depicting some of the characters and scenes, adding to the uniqueness of the book.
The theme of the book had to do mainly with good verses evil. The evil Jack (actually there were four of them, only one of whom killed Bod's family) ended up disappearing along with the other "Jacks of all trades," as the group of killers called themselves. Bod and Scarlett who were just innocent teenagers, were safe and free.
The style that was used by the author was appropriate to the story. The spirits spoke and dressed in ways that were believable to their own time period. New terms such as "dancing the macabray" (where the living danced with the dead), "the sleer", "dreamwalking" and "fading" were introduced in this story in a way that was authentic to the overall plot and feeling of the novel.
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Bookmarks Magazine: "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."
Inis - Children’s Books Ireland Magazine: "The Graveyard Book stretches to cover all genres and to meet the expectations of Gaiman’s legions of readers of all ages."
5. CONNECTIONS
*This book would be an excellent way to introduce middle school and high school students to fantasy fiction.
*Other books in the fantasy fiction genre:
Cherryh, C. J. FORTRESS OF OWLS. ISBN 0061020087
Norton, Andre. MIRROR OF DESTINY. ISBN 0380779765
*Other books by Neil Gaiman:
CORALINE. ISBN 006051048X
M IS FOR MAGIC. ISBN 0061254592
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