The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illus. by Dave McKean Reviewed From School Library Journal:
Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. The child Bod's behavior is occasionally too precocious to be believed, and a series of puns on the name Jack render the villain a bit less frightening than he should be, though only momentarily. Aside from these small flaws, however, Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family.—Megan Honig, New York Public Library
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I listened to the audio book version of this with my husband. It was interesting to see how we heard the story differently. First, I spent he first few chapters explaining what was happening, who each character was, and if they were dead or alive. He tends to read more nonfiction and was confused by so many character and keeping track of how the interlocked through the story. Once he got that down, I think he liked the book even more than I did! We had 2 chapters left after a long car trip and he had to ask when we were going to read again so he could hear the ending! That says a lot coming from a guy who says he "doesn't like fiction".

It was a fantastic book. The characters were lovable and easy to connect to. You really wanted the best for Bod and to make sure he was protected. I loved the idea of being in a graveyard and being able to learn to do what they do, like "fading". It was also clever the way he wove character of different age level into the graveyard so Bod always had someone to befriend that was close to his current age. The plot was fantastic from the exciting beginning with a baby escaping a murder and being taken in by ghosts in a graveyard to the new beginning for Bod in the end. A must have for the middle or high school library.