Book Review: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

2018 (First published 2008)

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Pages: 289

Date Read: September 2024

Main Characters:

Nobody (Bod) Owens (A boy who grows up in the graveyard)

Silas (Bod’s guardian)

Jack (A mysterious man who murders Bod’s family)  

Blurb:

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal is 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.

A deliciously dark masterwork by bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by award-winning Chris Riddell.

My review:

A very intriguing and thought-provoking story about a boy who grows up a little less ordinary. In some ways it is very much a marvel that a small boy who can barely toddle manages to grow up in a graveyard raised by ghosts, but given that this is a children’s fiction story, I believe that the purpose of the book (aside from being a murder mystery) is to get people contemplating the complex meaning of life and death.

I first came across this book whilst teaching primary aged children. There was a writing unit by Jane Considine that was based around it and, as I was already a fan of some of Neil Gaiman’s other works, I thought it would make an especially good unit to do with the children around October last year. Being the writing co-ordinator for the school also came in handy. Unfortunately, we never ended up finishing the book as a class (We only made it to page 190), so it was on my reading list to re-read myself at home.

It is difficult to know exactly what to say about this book without giving too much of the story away. Obviously, the main plot is around Nobody’s coming of age (A good example of a ‘Bildungsroman’) and him trying to discover what had happened to his real family, however it does also contain a few smaller subplots that help to move the story along.  Near the beginning there is a wonderful section where the ghosts discuss what should happen to the boy who randomly turns up in their graveyard. There is a fantastic dialogue between the ghosts where it is clear how and why ‘Nobody Owens’ gets his new name. Later on, we do discover what his real surname was although the first name that was given to him by his original parents is never revealed. I actually think that this is a really lovely detail to keep hidden from the reader. It helps to add to the complex riddle of his character and means that the reader is able to consign any given name to him should they wish which in turn makes him more relatable.

In terms of the other characters in the story, I absolutely love Silas. We’re never entirely sure what sort of ‘being’ he is, but the air of mystery around him and his loyalty to Bod are endearing. It sings to the vampire enthusiast in me. He teaches Bod an important lesson about how people can and do change. So does another character who is temporarily left in charge of him and whom he takes an instant dislike to but later learns to respect.

Despite the fact that I admire the character’s fierce independence and quick wit, and it is obvious how her involvement helps to move the story along, I did have to question the author’s inclusion of a character who claims to be a real witch. Her storyline seems to mimic accounts of the historical witch trials in England but, as we are aware, many people who were accused and killed back then were not witches or at least didn’t actually do half of the things that they were being unfairly accused of and certainly wouldn’t have called themselves ‘witches’. It did make for an interesting conversation point for the children in my class whom I was reading the book with and lots of discussions were had over what a witch is/was and what one looks like. I was just concerned that they would get confused over the historical accuracy.

The book ends (as you may expect from the title) with a very melancholy chapter as Bod reaches maturity. Some readers may appreciate the fact that this chapter was kept short and was not too drawn out. Personally, I would have liked a more detailed account of how his relationship with the graveyard changes given all of the lessons he learns over the course of the book. Maybe this was done as a nod to the type of audience to whom the book was intended? Perhaps the author did not want to dwell on the negatives of a childhood that was ending but instead concentrate on all of the possibilities that lay before Bod?

The book certainly provokes a lot of very deep and interesting questions. Questions such as: Is there life after death? Is death just a new beginning? How will we be remembered? What will be written about us when we die? Or what will be put on our gravestones? Does it matter? Do we need to be known by everyone in order to have made a difference?

A lovely, contemplative, and very inspirational coming of age story.

Star rating: 4.5 out of 5.