|
Loading... The Graveyard Bookby Neil Gaiman
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendations
Loading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  lewispike | Nov 8, 2009 |  A great blend of the funny (the tombstones!) and the creepy (that opening sentence!) The chapters had a fairly episodic feel, but each moved the story along as well, and I was surprised to find myself all choked up at the end. I almost really liked the illustrations, since they added nicely to the mood of the book, but any time a character was depicted, the illustrations clashed with the images in my head. I would definitely recommend this to kids who can handle a little creepy. The premise is really great - a boy being raised by a graveyard - and I'm happy to say the execution lives up to the premise. (  ) dianestm | Nov 7, 2009 | I'm not going to give this a star rating because I shouldn't have picked it up in the first place. From the description, I thought it was a young adult book but, in fact, it's a children's book, which I can't finish. There might be an additional tiny problem too - it's a children's book and yet the content seems to be a bit on the mature side -murder, ghosts, graveyards - for children. The main character is a child, acts like a child and has a child's problems. Since I haven't been one of these for a very long time, I cannot relate to the character, his tribulations, or his "story". I also am not a big fan of ghouls and ghosts doing things just because they would be "scary" for children. I'm sure a 12 year old would find that it's a great story. If you like suspense, action, or a plot that has events which have a purpose other than to shock or scare children (i.e. to advance the story, perhaps, or to develop a character...) then I'd recommend you find a different book. crazybatcow | Nov 7, 2009 | really enjoyed this book, its pretty dark but has some great comic moments ( ) Damyanti | Nov 6, 2009 | The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, won the Newbery Medal for 2009, so I had high hopes. While those hopes weren't dashed by any means, they weren't lived up to. The book starts out as a murder-mystery (which makes me question its genre as Children's literature, but who am I to judge?) and I was hooked. This is the story of Nobody "Bod" Owens, a toddler who escaped from the man who killed his family and is taken in by the occupants of the local graveyard - a hodgepodge of ghosts and spirits. Bod is well cared for and brought food by his guardian, Silas, who is not quite of the spirit world, but not of the human world, either. Eventually, of course, Bod must come face to face with his family's murderer, and I have to say there was an unexpected and greatly appreciated twist concerning that. But I found the middle part of the book was a bit boring. It seemed like Gaiman was trying to pass the time between Bod's toddler years until he was old enough to face off against his nemesis. There were a few bits of information or experiences that were important later on, but as a whole I thought it could have been a bit more exciting. The climax, however, was great, and the ending was emotional, so that definitely brought it back up to the expectations I had in the beginning. Maybe I'm being overly critical. It has been awhile since I've read Children's literature, and I'm guessing this book is just right for a lot of kids - mystery, suspense, a coming-of-age tale where the main character feels what kids his age feel - but for me, it wasn't my favorite. Good, but not great. 3.5 out of 5 stars (  )2  AmyElizabeth | Nov 5, 2009 | 
An assassin creeps upstairs to murder the only survivor of a slaughtered family. But the baby boy is gone. Innocently he has climbed from his crib, bottom-bumped downstairs, and headed outside, before toddling into a nearby graveyard. There ghostly Mrs. Owens, who has always longed for a child, realizes his danger and determines to adopt him. A lively debate erupts among the graveyard ghosts. Mrs. Owens finally gets her way after Silas, a mysterious visitor in the graveyard, volunteers to be his guardian and to bring him food. The baby, formally named Nobody Owens, is voted the freedom of the graveyard and there he thrives, loved and cared for. The freedom of the graveyard bestows ghostly talents, and Bod is taught useful skills like Fading and Haunting. But beyond his safe home there is danger. Bod stumbles into frightening adventures in this world and another, and Silas faces death fighting an ancient Fraternal Order determined to kill the boy. Gaiman writes with charm and humor, and again he has a real winner. Readers quickly begin to care about Bod and the graveyard residents. Bod's encounter with the ghouls is brilliantly inventive. Miss Lupsecu, his substitute guardian while Silas is away, is dry-as-dust strict, a bad cook, and a friend to the death. The conclusion is satisfying, but it leaves room for a sequel. Everyone who reads this book will hope fervently that the very busy author gets around to writing one soon. Reviewer: Rayna Patton  While “The Graveyard Book” will entertain people of all ages, it’s especially a tale for children. Gaiman’s remarkable cemetery is a place that children more than anyone would want to visit. They would certainly want to look for Silas in his chapel, maybe climb down (if they were as brave as Bod) to the oldest burial chamber, or (if they were as reckless) search for the ghoul gate. Children will appreciate Bod’s occasional mistakes and bad manners, and relish his good acts and eventual great ones. The story’s language and humor are sophisticated, but Gaiman respects his readers and trusts them to understand. Gaiman's narratives tend toward the episodic, and there are chapters of The Graveyard Book that could stand alone as discrete short stories. All the better for reading at bedtime, though, and what's lost in forward momentum is more than made up for by the outrageous riches of Gaiman's imagination Like a bite of dark Halloween chocolate, this novel proves rich, bittersweet and very satisfying. 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. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0060530928, Hardcover)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 timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other. This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman's first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman's legion of adult fans. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:54 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
Abebooks |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
He has his adventures within the graveyard and occasionally outside it too. He makes friends, and eventually works to defeat the Jacks. But, and in a wonderfully handled and surprising way, his actions are not without consequence.
Brilliant.
The pictures at the start of each chapter are a delight too. (