ISBN-13: 9780747598848Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 2008
289pgs
Illustrated by Chris Riddell
From the blurb:
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts.
There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard. But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod's family.
The graveyard is supposed to be a scary place, isn't it? But definitely not in Bod's (short for 'Nobody') opinion, for this is where his home is ever since he has been adopted by the Owenses - a couple who had wanted a child of their own and had been dead for a few hundred years.
Bod was only a toddler when he had first stumbled into their yards, with his parents and his elder sister being killed by a man called Jack. Bod is then given the Freedom of the Graveyard, where he could roam about the graveyard and is able to see the dead and the dark. Silas, who could always be counted upon to explain things no matter in the living or the dead world became his guardian. And then, there are the others like Mother Slaughter, Josiah Worthington, Miss Lupescu, the witty witch known as Liza Hempstock who was buried at the edge of the graveyard at Potter's field who are all friends and family to Bod.
Bod was only a toddler when he had first stumbled into their yards, with his parents and his elder sister being killed by a man called Jack. Bod is then given the Freedom of the Graveyard, where he could roam about the graveyard and is able to see the dead and the dark. Silas, who could always be counted upon to explain things no matter in the living or the dead world became his guardian. And then, there are the others like Mother Slaughter, Josiah Worthington, Miss Lupescu, the witty witch known as Liza Hempstock who was buried at the edge of the graveyard at Potter's field who are all friends and family to Bod.
Bod slowly grows up to be a young man under their care and guidance, but he wants to know the world of the living humans, and most of all he wants to find out the man who had killed his family and he is all ready to confront him (or whoever they are) when the day comes.
I just could not describe to you how much I enjoyed reading The Graveyard Book. I was so mesmerised by the plot (which I think is original) and the characters that I hated to see it end after I had turned to the last page. It brought a warm feeling to my heart, despite the graveyard setting and that most of the characters are dead. And I really, really love Neil Gaiman's idea of creating the living world as a dangerous one, because yes I think humans can be frightening and is capable of doing all kinds of horrid things, and sometimes what you think is scary is actually not what you think.
The other thing I loved is the ending; and I could not think of any other better ending than this is. The Graveyard Book is a wonderful fantasy and a bittersweet coming-of-age tale which fascinates not only to the young readers but to the adults as well. The illustrations by Chris Riddell are great too. I rarely re-read books, but I will read this book again if time and opportunity allow it.
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