by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman's perennial favorite, The Graveyard Book, has sold more than one million copies and is the only novel to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal.
Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him.
Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?
The Graveyard Book is the winner of the Newbery Medal, the Carnegie Medal, the Hugo Award for best novel, the Locus Award for Young Adult novel, the American Bookseller Association's "Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book," a Horn Book Honor, and Audio Book of the Year. Don't miss this modern classic—whether shared as a read-aloud or read independently, it's sure to appeal to readers ages 8 and up.
Neil Gaiman's perennial favorite, The Graveyard Book, has sold more than one million copies and is the only novel to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal.
Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him.
Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?
The Graveyard Book is the winner of the Newbery Medal, the Carnegie Medal, the Hugo Award for best novel, the Locus Award for Young Adult novel, the American Bookseller Association's "Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book," a Horn Book Honor, and Audio Book of the Year. Don't miss this modern classic—whether shared as a read-aloud or read independently, it's sure to appeal to readers ages 8 and up.
Reviews-
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Starred review from September 29, 2008
A lavish middle-grade novel, Gaiman's first since Coraline
, this gothic fantasy almost lives up to its extravagant advance billing. The opening is enthralling: “There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.” Evading the murderer who kills the rest of his family, a child roughly 18 months old climbs out of his crib, bumps his bottom down a steep stairway, walks out the open door and crosses the street into the cemetery opposite, where ghosts take him in. What mystery/horror/suspense reader could stop here, especially with Gaiman's talent for storytelling? The author riffs on the Jungle Book
, folklore, nursery rhymes and history; he tosses in werewolves and hints at vampires—and he makes these figures seem like metaphors for transitions in childhood and youth. As the boy, called Nobody or Bod, grows up, the killer still stalking him, there are slack moments and some repetition—not enough to spoil a reader's pleasure, but noticeable all the same. When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them, and redeem any shortcomings. Ages 10–up. -
New York Times Book Review
"The Graveyard Book, by turns exciting and witty, sinister and tender, shows Gaiman at the top of his form. In this novel of wonder, Neil Gaiman follows in the footsteps of long-ago storytellers, weaving a tale of unforgettable enchantment." — New York Times Book Review
"Like a bite of dark Halloween chocolate, this novel proves rich, bittersweet and very satisfying." — Washington Post
"Wistful, witty, wise—and creepy. This needs to be read by anyone who is or has ever been a child." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This is an utterly captivating tale that is cleverly told through an entertaining cast of ghostly characters. There is plenty of darkness, but the novel's ultimate message is strong and life affirming....this is a rich story with broad appeal. " — Booklist (starred review)
"Lucid, evocative prose and dark fairy-tale motifs imbue the story with a dreamlike quality. ...this ghost-story-cum-coming-of-age-novel as readable as it is accomplished." — Horn Book (starred review)
"This is, quite frankly, the best book Neil Gaiman has ever written. How he has managed to combine fascinating, friendly, frightening and fearsome in one fantasy I shall never know, but he has pulled it off magnificently - perfect for Halloween and any other time of the year." — Diana Wynne Jones, author of The Chronicles of Chrestomanci
"I wish my younger self could have had the opportunity to read and re-read this wonderful book, and my older self wishes that I had written it." — Garth Nix, author of The Abhorsen Trilogy
"It takes a graveyard to raise a child. My favorite thing about this book was watching Bod grow up in his fine crumbly graveyard with his dead and living friends. The Graveyard Book is another surprising and terrific book from Neil Gaiman." — Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife
"After finishing The Graveyard Book, I had only one thought — I hope there's more. I want to see more of the adventures of Nobody Owens, and there is no higher praise for a book." — Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels
"The Graveyard Book is endlessly inventive, masterfully told and, like Bod himself, too clever to fit into only one place. This is a book for everyone. You will love it to death." — Holly Black, co–creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles
"The Graveyard Book manages the remarkable feat of playing delightful jazz riffs on Kipling's classic Jungle Books. One might call this book a small jewel, but in fact it's much bigger within than it looks from the outside." — Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn
The Graveyard Book is everything everyone loves about Neil Gaiman, only multiplied many times over, a novel that showcases his effortless feel for narrative, his flawless instincts for suspense, and above all, his dark, almost silky sense of humor. — Joe Hill, author of Heart–Shaped Box
