The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
Fantasy, Young-Adult, Fiction, Horror, Middle-Grade, Paranormal
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead. There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer; a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of ghouls; friendship with a witch, and so much more. But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks, for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod’s family. A deliciously dark masterwork by bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by award-winning Dave McKean.
Recommendations from Common Sense Media
Age Recommendation: 9+
What Parents Need to Know:
Parents need to know that The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman won the Newbery Medal in 2009, the most coveted award in children’s literature in the United States. This is a review of the novel that has some black-and-white drawings by Dave McKean. The Graveyard Book is also available as two superb graphic novels released in 2014. The story begins with the murder of an entire family except a toddler named Bod, with little described beyond the knife used and where the bodies were in the house. From then on, the story follows Bod growing up. It’s mostly set in a graveyard, and most of the characters are benevolent ghosts. Ghouls are not so nice, however. They kidnap Bod and threaten to eat him. He’s also threatened by bullying kids and nearly arrested. Someone is hit by a car, a man is poisoned and knocked out, and fights ensue with knives, strangling cords, and guns drawn, with injuries. Pains are taken not to kill the villains, but one character is consumed by a giant snakelike creature. Expect some scares past the ghoul-gate with howling creatures in pursuit and in a deep, dark grave where a creature threatens two young kids; the kids decide not to be afraid and the tension dissipates. Other content is pretty mild: “damn” and “bloody” are said rarely, and two men drink gin. Bod gets some lovely advice from his mother in a song at the end: “Face your life/ Its pain, its pleasure/ Leave no path untaken.” There are reminders throughout the story of what’s missing in Bod’s life living among the dead and what life has to offer him in the future, including a chance to explore, make connections, and make his mark on the world.
Educational Value: 2/5
Since this takes place in a graveyard, lore about ghosts and sinister dead creatures like ghouls can be compared with other lore of the dead, how they manifest as ghosts, what powers they have. It also familiarizes readers with sections and styles of old graveyards: the unconsecrated ground, the crypts, the mausoleum, the headstones and family plots, and the small church or funeral chapel in its center. Some details about how people accused of witchcraft and petty thievery were killed and buried hundreds of years ago. Description of Anglo-Saxon burial practices using barrows.
Positive Messages: 3/5
Bod gets some lovely advice from his mother in a song at the end: “Face your life/ Its pain, its pleasure/ Leave no path untaken.” There are reminders throughout the story of what’s missing in Bod’s life living among the dead and what life has to offer him in the future, including a chance to explore, make connections, and make your mark on the world.
Positive Role Models: 4/5
Bod is extremely inquisitive, a bookworm, brave, and selfless. When he makes mistakes, it’s usually because he’s trying to help someone else — acquire a proper gravestone or conquer those who bully them – and he sees his deeds as more important than staying safe from the danger he’s in. His mentor, Silas, doesn’t discourage Bod from asking questions and finds ways to turn Bod’s missteps into learning lessons. All of the graveyards’ ghost inhabitants play a role in Bod’s upbringing in positive ways.
Diverse Representations: 1/5
A girl’s parents split up and she lives with her mother. Bod, of course, has a far less traditional family structure. He’s orphaned at the beginning of the book, his adoptive parents are ghosts who have been dead for many years, and his guardian is something in between alive and dead.
Violence & Scariness: 4/5
The story begins with the murder of Bod’s whole family: parents and older sister. They die by stabbing, and Bod is under threat from this murderer for most of the story and hidden in a graveyard for safety. Ghouls kidnap him and threaten to eat him. He’s also threatened by bullying kids at school and nearly arrested. Someone is hit by a car, a man is poisoned and knocked out. Fights ensue with knives, strangling cords, and guns drawn and there are injuries. Pains are taken not to kill the villains, but one character is consumed by giant snakelike creature. Some scares past the ghoul-gate with howling creatures in pursuit and in a deep, dark grave where a creature threatens two young kids; they decide not to be afraid and the tension dissipates. Bod is spanked by his ghost-father with the explanation that when the father was alive ages ago this kind of discipline was normal. Talk of the death of someone close to Bod and more fighting amongst supernatural creatures. A witch tells the story of how she was drowned and burned and how the whole town caught the plague afterward. Lots of talk of how the inhabitants of the graveyard died. A discussion of suicide and others who dwell in the unconsecrated ground of the cemetery, including criminals who were hung. Ghouls talk of plague pits being “good eatin’.”
Sex, Romance & Nudity: 1/5
A kiss on the cheek. Talk of couples rolling around in the graveyard.
Language: 2/5
Occasional mild language includes “bollocking,” “bloody,” “blooming,” and “blast,” and characters are referred to as “fiddle-pated old dunderhead,” “bleeder,” “little grub,” “weird,” and “little snot,” and told to shut their “offal-hole.”
Products & Purchases: 1/5
Bod reads The Cat in the Hat and Robinson Crusoe. Mention of the car brand Mini.
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking: 1/5
Adults drink gin and whisky on one occasion. Reference to a character drinking “like a fish.”
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