The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book
By Neil Gaiman
Reviewed by Lily

Neil Gaiman is best known as an author of comic books, graphic novels, and fiction. One such novel, The Graveyard Book, published in 2008, was the first book to win both the Newbery and Carnegie awards. I had enjoyed one of his books in the past, so I was quite excited to begin reading a book of his once again. This book is full of twists and turns as it follows our protagonist, Nobody Owens, known as Bod.

The book begins with two year old Bod escaping his home at night, after a mysterious character simply known as The Man Jack murders his mom, dad, and sister. Bod escapes to a nearby graveyard, and it adopted and raised by the local ghosts. A mysterious resident of the graveyard named Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, appoints himself Bod’s guardian. He is given freedom of the graveyard, which assists him with many abilities that ghosts naturally have. Each chapter finds Bod two years older, resulting in you, the reader, watching him mature. This is a wonderful way to tell a story with a satisfying conclusion, closing one chapter of a person’s life, but still leaving room for the next. It doesn’t leave you begging for a sequel, rather leaving room for one.

Among the book's strengths are character development and scene layout. Bod’s character strengthens as well as weakens as he learns valuable lessons among his usual high jinks. The ghost characters are interesting, but not developed within the book as Bod is. On another note, we have the scene layout. The book sets the atmosphere for every scene so well, you imagine it as you read without having to even think about it. For example, the first scene in the book of Bod’s home is set up in a way that you follow Bod through the dark and empty house, as if you are seeing everything he sees.

Neil Gaiman is wonderful at writing in many genres, he has succeeded at comedy and slice of life in the past, but is also skilled at writing in the style of mystery. This book can be both scary and heartwarming at once, building up a great atmosphere. I felt deeply moved by the ending of the story, and I can guarantee you will feel the same when you choose to read The Graveyard Book.