Book Club Kits: The Graveyard Book

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Bod 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 timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other. This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman's first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman's legion of adult fans.

• Like much of Gaiman's work, The Graveyard Book manages to fuse elements of humor, horror, fantasy, and mystery into a single story. Identify examples of these elements and discuss how they work together. How might the story read differently if one or more of these elements were removed?
  
  
• It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child. How does the graveyard come together to raise this particular child? Describe the special mentoring relationships that Bod has with Silas and Miss Lupescu.
  
  
• Boundaries—between the living and the dead, the graveyard and the world—are an important part of the novel. How does Bod test these boundaries? How do we test boundaries in our lives?
  
  
• Bod's human interactions are limited to a short-lived friendship with Scarlett and a brief stint at school. Discuss how these experiences change Bod. How do our friendships and associations with others affect us?
  
  
• The graveyard is populated with characters we typically think of as evil. How does Gaiman play with this idea, particularly in the characters of Silas, Miss Lupescu, and Eliza Hempstock? What do these characterizations suggest about human nature?
  
  
• “A graveyard is not normally a democracy, and yet death is the great democracy” (p. 29). How is death the great democracy? How does Gaiman explore the relationship between the dead and the living?
  
  
• Why is the Danse Macabre such a special night for dead? Why don’t they talk about it afterwards? Do the living participants understand what’s going on? Who is the lady on the grey?
  
  
• Neil Gaiman writes for a variety of media, including graphic novels, television and anime. Did his experience writing typically visual works affect the way he told the story in The Graveyard Book?
  
  
• Do you think Bod will be OK in the world of the living? What’s going to be the most difficult part of his transition? How will his unique upbringing help him? Will it hold him back in any way?
  
  
• Did you like this book? Why or why not?