The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Ah, I loved this. A toddler escapes being murdered by the man Jack and toddles up the hill to the graveyard and is saved by the inhabitants. The Owens become his parents and Silas his guardian. And so starts the story of Nobody Owens (aka Bod) who learns from the dead how to fade and has the freedom of the graveyard. His infrequent trips to the outside world only lead to trouble and out the is still the man Jack who is biding his time, for he still has a job to do. Bod makes friends with a witch, encounters the Sleer and finds the entrance to the city of ghouls. This is a delightful story which feels like it has been written for older children, indeed Neil admits that some was written for his daughter. There are black and white illustrations, all helping to create the atmosphere of the graveyard and the people Bod encounters there. He has few friends on the outside but does meet Scarlett when he is around five years old and again later in his teens.
As Bod grows older, the dangers become more. The man Jack is closing in and Bod finds himself lured to the house where he once lived. Only with the help of what he has learned from his graveyard friends and indeed from their direct help can Bod hope to defeat the man Jack and his posse.
There is poignant ending, making this a feel-good book. In the acknowledgements Neil talks about how the book come about, and in fact chapter four was written first and was a stand alone short story in its own right. I was interested to read that Neil went with Audrey Niffeneggar to explore Highgate Cemetery in London for research. Audrey, of course wrote one of her books based in a house by a cemetery (H
er Fearful Symmetry) which I have read, though she is perhaps more famous for
The Time Traveller's Wife. I recommend this. It's different.
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