Teenage Prize Reading Guide - Neil Gaiman
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The Reading Agency Reading Guide to: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman This great guide will help you present a title to a reading group. There are ideas to trigger in-depth discussion and information about some exciting online resources. There are six guides in total, one for each of the 2009 shortlisted titles.
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Title: The Graveyard Book Format [eg: pb/hb]: hb Pgs: 304 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Price: £12.99 ISBN: 69978-0747569015
About the author: Neil Gaiman was born and raised in England, but now lives in America with his wife and children. He has written highly acclaimed books for both children and adults and has won many major awards including the Hugo and Nebula. Gaiman’s book Coraline has recently been released as a major feature film. The Graveyard Book has just won The John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.
Obscure fact: Neil Gaiman lives in what he describes as an “honest-to-goodness Addams Family house”. It’s a Victorian gothic tower – creepy! It’s so scary that kids don’t dare to go trick or treating there on Halloween.
What’s it about?: Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place - he’s the only living resident of a graveyard. He has been raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves and other cemetery dwellers. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? Though Nobody’s teachers instruct him in the ways of magic and caution, there are some threats a boy must face alone – and some lessons he must learn for himself.
Talk about: Bod is caught between two worlds, the living and the dead. Discuss the theme of boundaries in the novel and the way characters shift between different worlds. The graveyard is full of characters we typically think of as evil. Think about the characters of Silas, Miss Lupescu and Eliza Hempstock? What do these characterisations suggest about human nature? Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean have collaborated on a number of books. How do McKean’s illustrations add to your reading of the story? Gaiman combines humour, horror, fantasy and mystery. Talk about the way these elements work together and what the story would be like without one of them.
Read more: • The Tales of Odd • Bloomsbury, 2009
• Odd and the Frost Giants • Bloomsbury, 2008
• Fragile Things Headline Review, 2006
• Anansi Boys • Headline Review, 2005
• Coraline Bloomsbury, 2002
• American Gods • Headline Review, 2000
Online: To find out more about the Booktrust Teenage Prize, why not visit www.bookheads.org.uk. If you’d like your reading group to be featured on the bookheads blog please email [email protected] www.groupthing.org is an online community around words and creativity. Young people can set up their own groups and start taking part for free. www.groupthing.org will be running features and competitions on this year’s prize. Why not get the young people in your library or school to join a group, or start their own!
More links: • www.neilgaiman.co.uk
• www.neilgaiman.com
• journal.neilgaiman.com
• twitter.com/neilhimself
Contacts: Booktrust is an independent charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages and cultures to engage with books and the written word. Contact: Claire Shanahan Tel: 020 8516 2977 Email: [email protected] www.booktrust.org.uk The Reading Agency is an independent charity which inspires more people to read more. Contact: Kathleen Keaney Tel: 020 7324 2549 Email: [email protected] www.readingagency.org.uk
[cover image here]
Title: The Graveyard Book Format [eg: pb/hb]: hb Pgs: 304 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Price: £12.99 ISBN: 69978-0747569015
About the author: Neil Gaiman was born and raised in England, but now lives in America with his wife and children. He has written highly acclaimed books for both children and adults and has won many major awards including the Hugo and Nebula. Gaiman’s book Coraline has recently been released as a major feature film. The Graveyard Book has just won The John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.
Obscure fact: Neil Gaiman lives in what he describes as an “honest-to-goodness Addams Family house”. It’s a Victorian gothic tower – creepy! It’s so scary that kids don’t dare to go trick or treating there on Halloween.
What’s it about?: Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place - he’s the only living resident of a graveyard. He has been raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves and other cemetery dwellers. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? Though Nobody’s teachers instruct him in the ways of magic and caution, there are some threats a boy must face alone – and some lessons he must learn for himself.
Talk about: Bod is caught between two worlds, the living and the dead. Discuss the theme of boundaries in the novel and the way characters shift between different worlds. The graveyard is full of characters we typically think of as evil. Think about the characters of Silas, Miss Lupescu and Eliza Hempstock? What do these characterisations suggest about human nature? Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean have collaborated on a number of books. How do McKean’s illustrations add to your reading of the story? Gaiman combines humour, horror, fantasy and mystery. Talk about the way these elements work together and what the story would be like without one of them.
Read more: • The Tales of Odd • Bloomsbury, 2009
• Odd and the Frost Giants • Bloomsbury, 2008
• Fragile Things Headline Review, 2006
• Anansi Boys • Headline Review, 2005
• Coraline Bloomsbury, 2002
• American Gods • Headline Review, 2000
Online: To find out more about the Booktrust Teenage Prize, why not visit www.bookheads.org.uk. If you’d like your reading group to be featured on the bookheads blog please email [email protected] www.groupthing.org is an online community around words and creativity. Young people can set up their own groups and start taking part for free. www.groupthing.org will be running features and competitions on this year’s prize. Why not get the young people in your library or school to join a group, or start their own!
More links: • www.neilgaiman.co.uk
• www.neilgaiman.com
• journal.neilgaiman.com
• twitter.com/neilhimself
Contacts: Booktrust is an independent charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages and cultures to engage with books and the written word. Contact: Claire Shanahan Tel: 020 8516 2977 Email: [email protected] www.booktrust.org.uk The Reading Agency is an independent charity which inspires more people to read more. Contact: Kathleen Keaney Tel: 020 7324 2549 Email: [email protected] www.readingagency.org.uk
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