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    The Graveyard Book
    The Graveyard Book
    The Graveyard Book
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Graveyard Book

    Written by Neil Gaiman

    Narrated by Neil Gaiman

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    About this audiobook

    The original audiobook edition of the acclaimed novel, read by the author! The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, has sold more than one million copies and is the only novel ever to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal.

    Nobody Owens 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 ghostly teachings—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?

    Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, 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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 30, 2008
    ISBN9780061707391
    Author

    Neil Gaiman

    Neil Gaiman is the New York Times bestselling and multi-award winning author and creator of many beloved books, graphic novels, short stories, film, television and theatre for all ages. He is the recipient of the Newbery and Carnegie Medals, and many Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner Awards. Neil has adapted many of his works to television series, including Good Omens (co-written with Terry Pratchett) and The Sandman. He is a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR and Professor in the Arts at Bard College. For a lot more about his work, please visit: https://www.neilgaiman.com/

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    Reviews for The Graveyard Book

    4/5

    8,915 ratings690 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be amazing, fantastic, superb, and everything they expect from Neil Gaiman. The book is a fascinating tale with a perfect spooky atmosphere. The characters are diverse and lovable, and the writing is amazing. The plot is unique and the narration by the author is outstanding. It is a poetically beautiful tale and the best Neil Gaiman book experienced by readers. The story is full of imagination and the journey is truly enjoyable. Overall, readers highly recommend this book and consider it one of their all-time favorites.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      2009 Newbery Medal Winner

      I feel like I am getting more disillusioned with Neil Gaiman as I read more of his work... I loved Stardust and Neverwhere, enjoyed Smoke and Mirrors, liked the film MirrorMask, was so disgusted and bored with American Gods that I actually put it down(!), and this... is something in between. I think it won the Newbery because it has a great ending. Gaiman took a page from The Jungle Book (haha) and made his character eventually have to face the return to civilization.

      Other reviewers have commented on the lack of villain development in the book, and for me that was a big deal. It wasn't suspenseful or really scary or wonderful at all to me. I got the impression that not even Gaiman knew what this "Jacks of All Trades" organization was. It was just very old and very mysterious and had something to do with ancient Egypt. That seems to be a running theme in his work... things are old and mysterious and that is supposed to make them cool or scary without really having any substance behind them. I never really felt like Bod was in any real danger, except for maybe his super quick stint in the police car, and that made it kind of bland to read. I just realized that since Bod was never really scared, that meant that I wasn't scared either. I think I'm also starting to feel like Gaiman's work in general falls flat to me. It's like he's trying too hard to be clever and sort of creepy, but always in the same way. The Gaiman gets in the way of the ghostliness. The villains in this book seemed like an excuse to have a villain, to use the name "Jack Frost" and the phrase "every man Jack."

      All of the action in the story was happening outside of the graveyard... essentially, the story itself was happening outside of the graveyard. In one way, that was sort of the point, because Bod learned that life was passing him by outside and he needed to go join it. On the other hand, it made for a pretty random series of events within the graveyard and a not-very-interesting 3/4 of a book. Since I've never read The Jungle Book, maybe there was some deep appreciation of the story that I wasn't getting because of that.

      Overall, I liked Bod's character and the people he lived with in the graveyard, but it just didn't hold up as a story for me. Neither the Honour Guard nor the villains got nearly enough attention or development, imo.
    • 4/5
      Interesting idea, good story. Not what you would expect in a Newberry winner.
    • 5/5
      Another fantastic book. I loved it! A great read or listen!
    • 5/5
      I aways love his books. Fantasy. Mischief. Wonderful listen. I wish there was more!
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book immensely to my surprise. The adventure of it and the writing style kept me coming back. The only real violence was in the first chapter ( with characters I wasn’t engaged with), so a book with no sex and violence had to have a great story. I know it was written for teens but at 72, I’d follow Bod out of that graveyard if I could.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed the story and Gaiman's reading of it is fantastic. Treat yourself and listen to this audio version!
    • 4/5
      A well imagined, enjoyable and entertaining tale, worth the time to listen even as a 68-year-old man.
    • 3/5
      I like it okay enough, but it's not my favourite Neil Gaiman book. But it's absolutely worth reading.
    • 5/5
      What a perfect spooky book. Nobody Owens I hope you enjoy all.
    • 5/5
      I love that this book started with a knife. I was hooked from that opening. A fascinating tale.
    • 5/5
      It is a wonderful story, I love it.
      The character is a very likable boy that goes through a very fun and entertaining adventure. It was a charming and soft paced story with an ending I enjoyed and gave me a sense of completion. The audiobook was great and the narrator told the story smoothly.
      Thank you for having this lovely story available.
    • 5/5
      One of my all time favourite books. I highly recommend it.
    • 5/5
      A lovely little story; I truly enjoyed the journey. Usually, I like to listen to an audiobook along with a paper copy to fiction- but this one was easy to follow without a paper copy.
    • 4/5
      This was a fun, fantastical story about the living and the dead. A lovely tale about a boy growing up and problems that not all of us face.
    • 5/5
      Great book. Loved it. Wonderful characters. Very enjoyable to listen to
    • 5/5
      Best narration I have heard on an audio book yet! Fun story with surprising twists!
    • 5/5
      I so enjoyed the author narrating the book. I plan on reading or listening to more of his books.
    • 5/5
      “I want to see life. I want to hold it in my hands."
    • 4/5
      This was another great book written and narrator by Neil Gaiman. It is a great world in and out of a graveyard.
    • 5/5
      The writing was amazing, the plot unique and the narration by the author outstanding.
    • 5/5
      Great book I enjoyed listening to every minute of it
    • 4/5
      A touching story with a lovable group of characters in a creepy, yet quaint graveyard. I’ll remember Bod and his friends for a good long while, and keep them close to my heart.
    • 4/5
      macabre & yet delightful. Puts life &death in perspective
    • 5/5
      I?ll never think of a ?jack of all trades? the same. Adorable story! Bod is one of those character that will be missed.
    • 4/5
      I'm not really sure how to review this and it took me two days to mark this a "read" just because I was trying to think of a worthy review. No such luck; this is the best I've got.

      I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I did like it a lot.

      As I read the first few pages I was wondering why everyone had such a hard-on for Neil Gaiman's writing, because I didn't like what I was reading. But later I had to attribute that to the fact that I had just finished a very sad book and the opening pages of this book were also sad. However, as I read on, I stopped being sad and became intrigued. This book literally takes place in a graveyard. It was interesting watching Bod grow from a precocious toddler into a determined young man. The people he met and the adventures he went on were exciting.

      I think the only complaint I can give is that I didn't love it like I thought I would, but that could have more to do with me than the book itself. Sometimes when things get built up so big, they're almost too big, and it sets us up for disappointment. So many people have told me how wonder Neil Gaiman's books are and most reviews I've read on his work is excellent, but it always boils down to personal preference and you headspace when reading something. Peraphs if I had read this prior to the other book or a few months from now I would have had a different feeling. Perhaps not.

      I can say that I did enjoy reading this book and I do look forward to reading other works by Mr Gaiman.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful book. Story full of imagination and love how Neil Gaiman read it with fun character voices.
    • 5/5
      I have been a comic book geek for as long as I can remember and one of the names constantly batted around in that genre is Neil Gaiman because of his successful "Sandman" series for DC Comics. I finally felt that it was time to read a book that he has written, so I picked up "The Graveyard Book" from Bracken Library on Ball State University campus. The book is truly a gem in their collection.

      The book centers on a boy that lives in a graveyard. The story progresses in a fantastical manner that keeps the reader engaged. Never have I felt so invested in a story as this one. Almost every single moment that you are reading you wonder what will happen next in the story. For a book to keep you so well gripped throughout shows how well the book is plotted out. The written word is simplistic in nature, but each one seems like it was plucked out of a hat with care. You want to keep reading this book and that is when you know a book is truly genious!
    • 5/5
      Very entertaining and Gaiman done great justice to the characters
    • 4/5
      My first encounter with Neil Gaiman was several years ago in his Sandman graphic novel series... I started the first one, got too scared and had to put it down. Last year I was reintroduced to his work The Ocean at the End of the Lane in a book club and could not put it down. I heard that The Graveyard Book had a similar tone, so I got it from the library. And it's true!I didn't want this book to end. It's telling is sweet and sad and a little bit dark. It reminded me a little of Grimm's Fairy Tales in its nonchalant approach to murder. Though I didn't find it as compelling the whole way through as The Ocean (I think because it is a children's/tween aged book and I'm 35) but I really enjoyed the read. The characters are explored beautifully and plot is developed thoughtfully, the story is believable while still being obviously fantastical.I read this book for this years book bingo square entitled "a retelling of a classic" because the story is intended to pay homage to Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book". It truly is a coming of age tale, and like Mowgli struggles between the wild and the tame, Bod struggles with his 'gift' of straddling the border between the living and the dead. The reason is very similar, I think, in the living and the tame both lack the wisdom of surrender inherent to the wild and the dead. The depth of this perspective is vital to true happiness in life and bares repeating over and over. I hope the generations exposed to The Graveyard Book gain wisdom from this book and are enticed to read the Jungle Book over again as adults.I'm giving this book four stars because while it opened my mind and deepened my sense of living life, I don't know that I would read it over. I would definitely recommend it to others though!
    • 5/5
      I loved listening to this book. The characters were so diverse and lovable. I found it hard to stop listening. I thought the ending was sad but also happy. I’ve become a loyal fan of Neil Gaiman