The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book

Nobody Owens is just a normal little boy. He's just like all the other little boys his age in that he spends time on his lessons every day, learns his letters and loves to read. The difference is that Bod, as he's known to his friends and family, lives in a graveyard. His parents and teachers are ghosts and his guardian, Silas, is a mysterious being who keeps to shadows and the night.

Bod has lived in the graveyard as long as he can remember, and while it may seem as if his home is the most dangerous place a little boy could live, he is much safer among the things that go bump in the night than he is out in the every day world. His family was murdered by a sinister man named Jack, whom Bod managed to escape when he was just a toddling baby. But Jack is still out there, waiting for the boy to turn up.

Taken in and protected by the ghosts in the graveyard just blocks from the scene of his family's murder, the graveyard keeps him safe. As Bod grows and learns the truth about the outside world and the dangers that await him there, he becomes adept at walking the line between the living and the dead. More haunted by the details of his past than the ghosts that surround him, the outside world proves to be a troublesome place each time Bod ventures out into it.

Yet again, Neil Gaiman dazzles readers with another exciting adventure. Gaiman continually produces the kind of urban fairytales that make adults and youths alike daydream long after the book has been closed with a delighted sigh. He's not afraid to take his readers places they have never dreamed of exploring, even when those places are terrifyingly dark and obscene. Set in an English cemetery, the history of each and every gravestone creates an amazing backdrop for learning about the cultures and practices that came long before our time.

Review by Llewellyn McEllis