The baby is named Nobody Owens (since Mrs. Owens (the ghost who first discovered the baby) and her husband, Mr. They discuss whether to keep him until the Lady on the Grey (implied to be the Angel of Death) appears and suggests that the baby should be kept (“The dead should have charity”). The toddler crawls out of the house and up a hill to a graveyard where the ghosts find him. Unknown to him, the toddler has climbed out of his crib to explore. The story begins as Jack (usually referred to in the novel as “the man Jack”) murders most of the members of a family (later revealed to be the Dorian family) except for the toddler upstairs.

Spoiler Alert: This synopsis contains numerous plot spoilers. Time magazine included the novel in its list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time. It was the first time in the award’s 30-year history that one book made both the author and illustrator shortlists. The Graveyard Book also won the annual Hugo Award for Best Novel from the World Science Fiction Convention and Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book selected by Locus magazine subscribers.Ĭhris Riddell, who illustrated the British children’s edition, made the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist. Gaiman won both the British Carnegie Medal and the American Newbery Medal recognizing the year’s best children’s books, the first time both named the same work. The Graveyard Book traces the story of the boy Nobody “Bod” Owens who is adopted and reared by the supernatural occupants of a graveyard after his family is murdered. The Graveyard Book is a young adult fantasy novel by the English author Neil Gaiman, simultaneously published in Britain and America in 2008. First Paperback Edition 2010 Review courtesy of Wikipedia

Neil gaiman reading the graveyard book