By Heather A.
Synopsis:
After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.
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. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family…
Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.
This was my first Neil Gaiman book, but not the last! I realize now that this is more aimed at Middle Grade readers, rather than YA. I’ll be reviewing this book again on the blog because I recently acquired the graphic novel versions (Vol. 1 & 2, of course), so I’m looking forward to looking through those!
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was very charming. Written for the young YA audience, we watch young Nobody “Bod” Owens grow up in a graveyard, where he learns to “fade” and “dreamwalk,” like the ghosts around him. Throughout his youth, he discovers who killed his family and how to defeat them. Overall, this story was good, I just was left feeling sad at the end. Because even though his only childhood friend came back into his life, she ultimately left him alone. It does finish on a positive note, but Bod is all alone when he leaves the graveyard and that makes me sad for him. Also, since this was my first Neil Gaiman book, I was very happy with his storytelling. The writing was great and I would want to read some of this other work.
