The Graveyard Book
core novel 2008 The Graveyard Book
Record
| First published | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.15 (571,477 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780060530921 |
Synopsis
The Graveyard Book opens as a man named Jack murders a family in their home; the youngest child, a toddler, crawls out and wanders into a nearby graveyard, where the ghostly residents take him in. Renamed Nobody "Bod" Owens and adopted by the ghosts Mr. and Mrs. Owens, he is granted the Freedom of the Graveyard, letting him move through its boundaries and learn abilities such as Fading and Dreamwalking, while a mysterious guardian named Silas watches over him and brings him food from the world beyond the gates. As Bod grows from toddler to boy within the graveyard's protection, forbidden from leaving because the man who killed his family is still hunting him, he begins to investigate his own history, edging closer to the killer, who has resurfaced nearby as a seemingly ordinary historian.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Graveyard Book
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: Neil Gaiman
Awards (verified)
- Newbery Medal, 2009: won
- Hugo Award (Best Novel), 2009: won
- Locus Award (Best Young Adult Book), 2009: won
- Carnegie Medal, 2010: won
Notes
- A single continuous novel told across 8 chapters, each set 2 years after the last, following an orphaned boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. No sequels or companion works exist in this specific continuity, unlike American Gods -- registered as a single-work universe (same category as The Once and Future King, Uprooted, Spinning Silver, Ysabel).
Sources
← The Graveyard Book dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.