“Neil 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 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 subscribers.” —Wikipedia
This 2014 graphic novel version of The Graveyard Book traces the story of the boy named Nobody “Bod” Owens, who is adopted and reared by the supernatural occupants of a graveyard after his family is brutally murdered. Bod grows up learning about the dead and their lives after death. He makes attempts to learn about the world outside the graveyard and those efforts have mixed results.
While Bod is “protected” in the graveyard, the killer of his mother, father, and older sister still lurks nearby waiting to kill Bod to complete his murderous assignment. When The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Medal for Best Children’s Book in 2008, I was a bit surprised. No previous Newbery Medal winner had this degree of noir. If you haven’t read The Graveyard Book you’re in for a fascinating experience. GRADE: A (for both graphic volumes)
If I remember the book — and its been several years, and I have made a life-long career of misremembering — Bod’s main protector was never actually described as a vampire, although we all knew that surely he was. The GN overtly depicts him as such, which somehow lessened him as a unique character in my mind. Not enough to ruin the story, mind you; it’s still a great tale in either format.
Jerry, the graphic novel illustrations show Bod’s protector as a vampire. I like all the spooky characters in THE GRAVEYARD BOOK!