Skip to main content

The Graveyard Book

Image result for the graveyard book by neil gaiman 
I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. I am not sponsored to write this review, I'm just doing it for fun.  

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was published by Harper Collins Publishers in 2008. My copy was illustrated by Dave McKean. Gaiman is most famous for his Sandman comics, his novels like American Gods, Neverwhere, and children's books like Coraline, M is for Magic, and Stardust. 

The Graveyard Book follows the life and childhood of Nobody Owens, a human boy who lives in a graveyard and is raised by the ghosts and spirits who are buried there. His education comes from the older ghosts and a werewolf. His protector is Silas, a creature who can interact with the human world but doesn't belong to the living or the dead. Nobody-- called Bod-- has a variety of adventures including an ancient tomb with a monster, an encounter with ghouls, a human friend, a grave marker for a witch, and his time at a normal school. Meanwhile, the man who murdered Bod's family and continues to hunt him-- a figure only known as Jack-- is searching and waiting. 

I picked this up because I love Neil Gaiman's work and as I read, I had the strangest feeling that I knew the story already but I wasn't sure how. I think I'd listened to the audio book at some point in my life-- probably during a family trip. 

First off, I'm a little surprised this is a kids book. It starts with Jack murdering Bod's family and then hunting an infant through the streets to a graveyard. While there's nothing gory in the description, there is plenty about Jack's knife. He does seem to have some kind of supernatural power as well but we never learn much about him or the other Jacks.

This book is very episodic. Things do connect back to each other but it's more of a fun reference and less a tight plot. One chapter introduces the Sleer but this creature doesn't return until towards the end. There's also not a lot of expansion on certain things which makes me wonder if Gaiman had planned for other short stories that either didn't make it into the book or there was going to be another book that references these characters, creatures, and organizations that I don't know about or was just never published. I want to know more about Silas and the Jack of all Trades and the Sleer. Bod's story doesn't even "end," he's just ready to leave the graveyard and go on his own way into the world. 

But again, this is a kid's book so maybe I'm looking for more things than what was intended. 

If you want to get your kids started on some scary but not terrifying books, The Graveyard Book is a great place to start. It's episodic so there's no rush to finish the entire book (all 307 pages-- including pictures). Bod is fun and all of the creatures he encounters are interesting. I just wish there was more to the book, or a sequel, or something.

*I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House and I do get a small commission from any purchases through this site (http://www.zpublishinghouse.com?rfsn=1831564.e6264). If you're interested in emerging writers anthologies, this is a great place to use. Thanks.*


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos

  The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos by Kami Garcia is a prequel to the Fox television show that was created by Chris Carter and aired between 1993 and 2002. Agent of Chaos was published in 2017 by Imprint Reads. Kami Garcia is the coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures and Dangerous Creatures and is the author of The Lovely Reckless, Broken Beautiful Hearts, Unbreakable, and Unmarked. For those who haven't watched the show, X-files follows FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder as they investigate unexplained circumstances and events while also dealing with a shadow government who may have orchestrated the kidnapping of Mulder's little sister, Samantha.  Agent of Chaos takes place five years after Samantha's disappearance. Mulder is living with his father despite their deteriorating relationship and is suffering from insomnia and obsessive fixation on various subjects that he finds interesting. Meanwhile, his father is pressuring him to attend Georgetown University for a soci...
Post a Comment
Read more

Blade of the Immortal Vol. 1-4 Review

  Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Saura, originally Mugen no Junin, published by Afternoon from Jun 1993 to December 2012.  In America, it was published by Dark Horse Comics, using a cut-and-paste method instead of the mirror image method in order to make the series read left-to-right. This was done at Mr. Samura's request to preserve his artwork and to avoid flipping the manji symbol used throughout the series. The series was made into an anime, directed by Koichi Mashimo and produced by Bee Train, released July through December 2008 and released by Media Blsters in North America in September 2009. There was also a 2017 live action film adaption directed by Takashi Miike and staring Takuya Kimura. The manga won a 1997 Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival and a Will Eisener Comic industry Award in 2000. It sold 5 million copies as of February 2017. I managed to find the Dark Horse versions at a local second hand bookstore. Unfortunately, these edit...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reading During Quarentine

    Photo by cottonbro from Pexels   Hello travelers, If you are like you, you are stuck in the middle of quarantine. I recognize that this might mean different things for different people. Personally, I live in an area where everyone is supposed to be doing the bare minimum for health safety yet they are also pretty much back to normal life despite our spiking numbers (thanks Midwest America). I am an essential worker and have continued to work throughout the shut down in order to service my community with their library needs. I recognize i'm lucky to still be working though I do wish there were more restrictions and not such a big push to reopen given the current climate. When this quarantine started, a lot of people figured this was a great time to read all of those books that they never would normally get around to. I had a similar mindset. I couldn't go out. I was stuck at home all the time. Obviously this was the perfect time to put a huge dent in my TBR, right? A...
Post a Comment
Read more