The Graveyard Book in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Mar 02, 2013 Chelsea rated it really liked it

Shelves: childrens, ya, award-winners, newbery

Gaiman, Neil, and Dave McKean. The Graveyard Book. New York: HarperCollins Pub, 2008. Print. 312 p.
Newbery Medal 2009
Nobody Owens, Bod for short, grows up in a non-traditional way after the murder of his family when he is a baby. As they say, “it takes a graveyard to raise a child”, and in Bod's case his adopted “parents”, the ghostly Owenes, and his guardian Silas do just that. Ghouls, ghosts, witches, and goblins are not the most frightening characters in this macabre novel. The man Jack is re ...more

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Apr 13, 2009 Mara rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, ghosts-ghost-story

Yes, this book is kind of dark, but I'm not sure why anyone reading a book about a kid being raised by a cemetery full of ghosts would expect otherwise. But Gaiman's characters are more people than ghosts, which helps lighten things up considerably. In particular, Bod, the child in question, is a very engaging character, and since he seemed ok with his circumstances, I found it hard to argue.

My only complaint about this book is that there's too much going on in the background that is clearly sig ...more

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Feb 18, 2009 Kerry rated it liked it

Shelves: a_gift, iownthis, magic, ya

Really cute! Nothing epic or mindblowing, but a nice, pleasant story. Charming, as Gaiman can be.

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Oct 29, 2011 Aleetha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Graveyard Book brought me to Nobody Owens. Yeah, he got a weird name. But no need to wonder why. Graveyard was the place where he grew up and lived since he was toddler. Nobody Owens, Bod, was also raised by the dead. He even had Silas, a guardian. Bod almost had no friend but them. Since he was young, he has been warned for many things, from the ghouls till the world outside. Bod was fined with all the rules. Afterwards, the curiosity inside him was getting bigger. There was nothing that co The Graveyard Book brought me to Nobody Owens. Yeah, he got a weird name. But no need to wonder why. Graveyard was the place where he grew up and lived since he was toddler. Nobody Owens, Bod, was also raised by the dead. He even had Silas, a guardian. Bod almost had no friend but them. Since he was young, he has been warned for many things, from the ghouls till the world outside. Bod was fined with all the rules. Afterwards, the curiosity inside him was getting bigger. There was nothing that could stop him even his guardian. He would only quit till he got the answer why. Bod did not understand that her foster parents, guardian, and teachers were trying to protect him. He just did not get it till he faced the man Jack, the fiercest man ever.

I was excited and worried in a same time when The Graveyard Book was in my hand. First, I had been waiting this book for so long. Second, I have never read Neil Gaiman's book in English. Some of his books that I have in my shelves had been translated. Reading some of them (The Anansi Boys and Stardust) made me think that Gaiman has his own writing style that was not easy to understand. I was not sure if I could get what he wrote. You have no idea, how relief I was when I found out that all the words were not that confusing as I thought before.

Bod, the main character in this book, would never become my favorite, if the other characters were not there. Let's say Silas, Mr and Mrs Owen, Elizabeth Hempstock, Scarlett, even the villain, the man Jack. All of them have their own way to make Bod become special. From all them, I loved the connection between Bod and Silas. I saw father and son relationship there. The chapter which involved Bod and Elizabeth Hempstock, the witch, was also a part that I adored. This chapter was also published in anthology Wizards: Magical Tales From the Masters of Modern Fantasy. Scarlett, she was also nice. She impressed me. I felt so bad when I found out what happened between Bod and her. I wish something better happened between them.

Every chapter has its own magnet. The development of the story and characters were also written very well. It was nice to see how Bod grew older. There were mixed up feelings and it started even when I was in first chapter. The ending made me feel little bit lost and sad. I wish Neil would write another ending for Bod.

The Graveyard Book makes me want to read more of Neil's works. I think I am going to read this book again next year.

Cover and Illustration
I love all the illustration inside. I spent more time to stare and look at them before I turn to the next page. It is as good as what he put in Coraline. I wish all of Neil Gaiman's books were completed with Dave McKean's scratches. But it seems that they are only for children's books. ...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: ya-fiction, ya-fantasy

It takes a graveyard to raise a child…so is the premise of Neil Gaiman’s new book, The Graveyard Book. Nobody Owens is a baby when his family is murdered in their home. Nobody has slipped out right before The Man Jack with his knife enters and wanders up to the graveyard. Nobody is taken in by the residents of the graveyard who promise to raise him.
The graveyard is old, and the residents don’t really know how to raise a modern boy whose life may still be in danger. Nobody is curious about both t ...more

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Jun 26, 2009 Jenny rated it really liked it

Shelves: juvenile-lit

Gaiman's Coraline scared the socks off me and so I was hesitant to pick up this Newbery Winner. It was a great novel and while it was exciting and suspenseful it was definitely not 'children's horror' like I was afraid of. The storyline is similar to the Jungle Book, only the boy in the novel is being raised in a graveyard by ghosts instead of in a jungle by animals. I highly recommend this!
...more

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Mar 11, 2009 Donna rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I really liked this and I don't really like fantasy. Is a bit Harry Potter-esque, though Gaiman claims to have been working on it for 20 years. ...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Michele Campbell rated it really liked it

I could listen to Neil Gaiman for pretty much the rest of my life and never get sick of him. Fun story, lots of mystery, made my daily commute go much faster!

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Aug 12, 2010 Kristen rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, magical-realism, newberry, 2010

It's Neil Gaiman. What more do you need to know? It was whimsical, funny, sad, inspiring, astute, pick your adjective. Just read it. ...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Allie rated it liked it

Shelves: illustrated, genre-sff, fiction, kids-middle-grade, award-hugo, fables-folklore-fairy-tales-myth, award-newbery, genre-scary-horror, audience-children

I would give this 3.5 stars if I could. I think this would have been a game-changer if I had read it as YA-book-reading-age, but I definitely still enjoyed it now.

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Jun 24, 2010 Alisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya

this book was a little slow and i was half way through before i felt like it really got moving, but i cried at the end and felt satisfied and that's something. ...more

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