The Graveyard Book - Book Review - TWU LS5603-Spring 2012

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Gaiman, Neil. 2008. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. With illustrations by Dave McKean New York: Harper Collins Children’s Books. ISBN 9780060530921 2. PLOT SUMMARY When a frightening killer ends the lives of his parents and older sister, a young boy finds himself cared for and hidden by the spirits of a local graveyard. Named Nobody Owens by his adoptive ghost parents Bod, as he comes to be called, learns the skills of the graveyard from his guardian, Silas. As one who walks between the worlds Silas is able to bring food to Bod and often goes on extended leaves from the graveyard. It is not until later that Bod learns the truth of these trips. Silas and others who can cross between the worlds have been working to protect him from the man who originally killed his family and who seeks even now, with his brethren, to finish the job he began years earlier. It takes not only the love and support of his ghostly family, but also the courage, determination and skill of Bod himself to end the deadly game those chasing him are playing. 3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS The truest telling element of a Young Adult fantasy novel is the protagonist and the ability of young readers to make a connection to them. Nobody Owens most certainly fits the bill. As is often felt by many teenagers Bod walks the line between two worlds, never fully fitting in either. Those once his friends as a child drift away as he ages, and he must continually seek his own identity in a place that is not made for him. While the love and support he receives from his graveyard family are helpful, he must learn to survive on his own. Only by confronting his fears and the dangers of the world is Bod ever truly free to live. This plot and the nuances of Bod’s character will ring very true for young adult readers. Though set in the unlikely location of a somewhat run-down graveyard, the believability of the inhabitants and the daily “life” they engage in as they while away the days after their deaths are both evocative and engaging. Both a maturation story and a fight against evil where only one can prevail, the plot elements are tested and true for Fantasy and are a large part of why Gaiman’s book is a Newbury medal winner. This struggle against those wishing to end his life is evident from early in the book, yet as Bod grows older, the concern crystalizes in his mind. “The only way into the northwest part of the graveyard was through the Egyptian Walk. And to get there he would have to go past the little man with the black silk rope. A man who was looking for him, and who wanted him dead…” Yet it is Bod’s resilience and his belief in himself that wins through in the end. Bod grows to recognize his skills and trust that he will be able to do the right thing. “He was Nobody Owens, he told himself. He was a part of the graveyard. He would be fine.” This growing belief in his own abilities also mirrors the transition teenagers make as they move from reliance to self-reliance. The mists of the graveyard, the feel of the terrain and the visions of his home in both daylight and moonlight help to bring this book and Nobody’s situation to life. As the themes of maturation and the struggle against wrongdoers are developed, it is the characters that live in the graveyard and the graveyard itself, that help fully develop the reader’s connection to Bod and his predicament. Gaiman does a compelling job of bringing this world to life, and readers can accept it, connect with it and become engrossed. 4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) THE NEW YORK TIMES: ““The Graveyard Book,” by turns exciting and witty, sinister and tender, shows Gaiman at the top of his form.” KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Wistful, witty, wise—and creepy. Gaiman’s riff on Kipling’s Mowgli stories never falters, from the truly spine-tingling opening, in which a toddler accidentally escapes his family’s murderer, to the melancholy, life-affirming ending…Closer in tone to American Gods than to Coraline, but permeated with Bod’s innocence, this needs to be read by anyone who is or has ever been a child.” 5. CONNECTIONS 2009 Newbury Medal Winner *Students could combine the reading of this book with their own charcoal drawings of scenes from the story. By extension they could choose to work in other mediums and compare and contrast how their own representations might affect the interpretation of the story when compared to McKean’s original black and white illustrations. *Students could engage in a local history project where they visit a graveyard with older graves, if possible. Students can learn to do rubbings and work with local historians and genealogists to research the lives of the individuals they find rubbings for. Additional pre-work by the teacher to recommend gravestones where local history and connections are likely to appear would support this connection. *Other books for YA readers with a teenage protagonist and a melancholy setting: Gaiman, Neil. CORALINE. ISBN-10: 0380807343 Gaiman, Neil. MIRRORMASK. ISBN-10: 0060821094