Halloween Book Review #3!!
—4—For anyone who hasn’t read Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, Halloween is fast approaching and this is a great time to do it! But considering I’m the last one to read it, that may be irrelevant. But I am going to review it anyways, perhaps to encourage the last few of you to pick it up.
Nobody’s family was murdered when he was an infant, but he escaped into the local cemetery. There, the “residents” take it upon themselves to raise and protect Nobody (Bod), and adopt him as their own. Bod is granted full run of the graveyard, which means he acquires some of the ghosts’ abilities, such as being able to fade. He is taught by characters from all different eras of history. His guardian is Silas, a figure who is able to leave the graveyard to gather food and items for Nobody, as well as protect him from the man who is still hunting him.
You would think a story about a boy growing up in a cemetery would be morbid, and at times it is a bit frightening, but overall it is a story about a community, unusual as it is, coming together to love, teach, and raise a child. At first Bod is confined to the graveyard, but he is taught to survive and thrive outside of it as well. And what a wonderful set of characters! Ghouls and a witch, a Roman and a poet, and a little girl from the outside world who befriends young Bod even though her mother thinks him her imaginary friend.
I was definitely stressed at the end when the murderer known as Jack finds Nobody, and Bod must escape him and save his best friend. Besides this, the story is not too frightening or dark. I think it is perfectly appropriate for most children, and is great for adults too! Love it!
4/5
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