The Graveyard Book

After his family is murdered, a toddler named Nobody 'Bod' Owens is adopted and raised by the ghosts in a graveyard, protected from the man Jack who still seeks to finish the job. A Newbery Medal winner that reimagines The Jungle Book as a gothic coming-of-age tale set among the dead.

Content Ratings

No Romance

There is no meaningful romantic content; Bod has a brief adolescent crush but it is minor and age-appropriate.

Intense Themes

Bod is an orphan raised by ghosts while hunted by his family's murderer; he lives with the constant knowledge of his family's violent deaths; themes of death, loss, being an outsider, and the necessity of facing one's fears are emotionally significant; the novel treats death with both gravity and matter-of-factness.

High Violence

Bod's family is murdered on-page in the opening; Bod faces threats throughout his childhood from supernatural dangers and the ongoing threat of the man Jack; the climax involves confrontation and death; violence is significant and sometimes graphic.