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The Graveyard Book (2008)

by Neil Gaiman

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
21,3731239178 (4.18)1 / 1312
Fantasy. Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. HTML:

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 placeâ??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 teachingsâ??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 classicâ??whether shared as a read-aloud or read independently, it's sure to appeal to readers ages 8 and… (more)

  1. 343
    Coraline by Neil Gaiman (FFortuna, moonstormer)
  2. 263
    The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling (veracity)
  3. 181
    James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (ut.tecum.loquerer)
  4. 185
    A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle (lorax)
    lorax: Beagle's work is not YA, but it is a classic, beautifully written love story involving ghosts and a man living in a cemetary.
  5. 130
    The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (emperatrix)
  6. 101
    Un Lun Dun by China Miéville (heidialice)
    heidialice: Both are fantastical YA at its best. Gaiman is an acknowledged inspiration for Mieville, and it shows, though he has his own distinctive style and voice.
  7. 123
    Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (ut.tecum.loquerer)
  8. 91
    The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs (timspalding)
  9. 81
    The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman (moonstormer)
  10. 1610
    The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman (ut.tecum.loquerer)
  11. 61
    From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury (Ape)
    Ape: Eerily similar stories...
  12. 62
    The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (jonathankws)
  13. 40
    The Thief of Always by Clive Barker (kawika)
  14. 51
    Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman (PghDragonMan)
  15. 30
    The Palace of Laughter by Jon Berkeley (FFortuna)
  16. 30
    Abarat by Clive Barker (kawika)
  17. 20
    Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham (keeneam)
  18. 31
    A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (kaledrina)
  19. 97
    Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (heidialice)
    heidialice: Similar in setting, and both ghost stories, these are very different books, but fans of one should be interested in the other.
  20. 53
    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (Sandydog1)
    Sandydog1: Childhood and adolescent,murdered parents, supernatural, cultural and social isolation, ghosts - any Potter fan would love this quaint coming of age story.

(see all 35 recommendations)

Ghosts (2)
To Read (13)
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» See also 1312 mentions

English (1,216)  German (4)  Spanish (3)  Portuguese (Brazil) (3)  Dutch (2)  French (2)  Norwegian (1)  Italian (1)  Danish (1)  Catalan (1)  Finnish (1)  Romanian (1)  Hungarian (1)  All languages (1,237)
Showing 1-5 of 1216 (next | show all)
I am certain that had I read this book as a kid, I would have become obsessed with it. ( )
  enlasnubess | Oct 2, 2023 |
One upside to being sick is that it gave me an excuse to finish this odd little book. Reading Gaiman's prose is like being led through a playful maze - or perhaps a "goony golf" course is more apt. I just loved the way the story spilled out onto the page. And the delight of the tale is not at all burdened by Gaiman's expert application of thematic subtext and other oft-neglected writer's tricks once discussed in language arts classrooms. This one definitely goes down as a Favorite. ( )
  Kim.Sasso | Aug 27, 2023 |
If you've read one Neil Gaiman book and loved it, don't expect the same formula in his other works but do expect to be drawn into the world between the pages and get lost in the world-building of each one. The same is true for this book. There is a very Gaimanesque way in which he brings elements of a story together. There have been a few authors who have mimicked this but not quite right. It's rather hard to explain.

What I will say is this - this is a story about a boy and his adopted family in the middle of a graveyard that is surprisingly the most heartwarming place in the whole book.

This book is tender, gentle, magical and enduring. ( )
  RoadtripReader | Aug 24, 2023 |
You know from the start of the story that the orphan, Nobody Owens, has a destiny. How Mr. Gaiman keeps you guessing about that destiny and why his family was killed is only part of the magic of the book. The other part is the way he draws you in and makes you care about the little boy and his macabre "family" in the graveyard. Beyond that is the sheer literary skill with which the tale is told. I found myself almost shouting for joy after reading certain passages, surprised by the unusual combination of their power and lack of pretense.

The one minor flaw I found in the book was the tidiness of the circle drawn from the end back to the beginning. But after all, it's a children's book, even though the author is never, ever talking down to his audience. Recommended for anyone that can handle an innocent ghost story. ( )
  zot79 | Aug 20, 2023 |
I freaking loved this book in its fantastical world of graveyards and fading and secret organizations and wordplay. It’s a treasure, and no Sleer is getting its grubby hands on it. ( )
  Elise3105 | Aug 13, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 1216 (next | show all)
Gaiman writes with charm and humor, and again he has a real winner.
added by lampbane | editVOYA, Rayna Patton (Jul 24, 2009)
 
Like a bite of dark Halloween chocolate, this novel proves rich, bittersweet and very satisfying.
 
This is fine work, from beginning to end, and the best bedtime story read-aloud material I've encountered in a long time. Can't wait until my daughter's old enough to read this to.
added by lampbane | editBoing Boing, Cory Doctorow (Oct 10, 2008)
 
When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them, and redeem any shortcomings.
 
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.
 

» Add other authors (15 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Gaiman, Neilprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Iacobaci, GiuseppeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
McKean, DaveIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Parpola, InkaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Plouhinec, Valérie LeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rhind-Tutt, JulianNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Riddell, ChrisIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Towfik, Ahmed KhaledTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
Rattle his bones
Over the stones
It's only a pauper
Who nobody owns

TRADITIONAL NURSERY RHYME
Dedication
First words
There was a hand in the darkness and it held a knife.
Quotations
Fortinbras Bartleby, ten years old when he had died (of consumption, he had told Bod, who had mistakenly believed for several years that Fortinbras had been eaten by lions or bears, and was extremely disappointed to learn it was merely a disease), now apologized to Bod.
“You’re always you, and that doesn’t change, and you’re always changing, and there’s nothing you can do about it.â€
Nehemiah Trot said, “Ah, list to me, young Leander, young Hero, young Alexander. If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained.â€
“And for that reason, if for no other, it is vital that the child be raised with as little disruption as possible to the, if you’ll forgive the expression, the life of the graveyard.â€
"It's like the people who believe they'll be happy if they go and live somewhere else, but who learn it doesn't work that way. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you." p. 104
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
This is the original prose book. Please don't combine it with any other format (Graphic novel, movie, etc).
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References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Fantasy. Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. HTML:

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 placeâ??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 teachingsâ??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 classicâ??whether shared as a read-aloud or read independently, it's sure to appeal to readers ages 8 and

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Nobody Owens lost his "really" family when he was infant and became adopted by a ghost family in his local cemetery. Aside from having ghosts for parents and guardians he also persued by the mysterious man who killed his family.
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Average: (4.18)
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