The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

            

      The Graveyard Book is a book about a young boy named Bod, short for Nobody Owens, and the adventures he has while living in a graveyard.  At the beginning of the book, when Bod is still just a toddler, his parents and sister are killed and he survives only because he had just learned to walk and literally walked straight out the door and into the graveyard that was nearby.  The Owens, a couple that had died many centuries before, adopts him—after much arguing—as their own, and Silas acts as a godparent to Bod. Silas teaches him about the graveyard, answers any questions he has, and is somebody Bod turns to frequently throughout the book.  Bod and a girl he meets, Scarlett, go on many adventures together including visiting the oldest grave in the graveyard.  They are met by the “Sleer” who guards the “master’s treasure” although the master hasn’t been there for a long time.  Scarlett soon has to leave, much to her displeasure.  Bod has many other adventures as he grows up: befriending a witch named Elizabeth Hempstock, getting kidnapped by a pawnshop owner in an attempt to get a graveyard for Elizabeth, celebrating a festival where they all dance the Macabre, attending school but having to leave because two bullies that he stood up against made it hard to keep a low profile, getting captured by Ghouls and finding out that his mentor Silas is part of a group called the Honor Guards and his sub Miss Lupescu is a werewolf, and learning how to do things like Fade, Haunt and Dream Walk. Towards the end of the book, Scarlett comes back and Bod is attacked by four people, including the man who killed his family, who are all part of an evil society called the Jacks of All Trades.  With Bod’s knowledge of the graveyard, he’s able to lure one of the Jacks into a deep grave, and two more into another realm where the Ghouls live.  The final Jack, the one who killed his family, Bod is able to convince to become the Sleer’s master, which entails being swallowed into the wall and never returning.  Scarlett is so scarred after seeing what Bod did that she goes back to Scotland.  Since nobody is coming after Nobody anymore, he is free to live his life and he plans on making it great.

           The Graveyard Book has been nominated for and won many awards, but I found it a little slow.  I do believe, however, that if I had read this book a few years ago I would have liked it.  This book is good for younger readers, with an age range of 7-12, especially those with a strong imagination and who love “scary” stuff.  I’m sure that many younger kids would find this book interesting, exciting, scary, adventurous, and inspiring.

Reviewed by Angie