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Description
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Summary
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Cast of Characters/Important People
- Bod Owens: The boy who grew up in a graveyard
- Silas: Bod's mentor/caretaker/fatherfigure.
- Tom Hustings: Cohort of Abanazer Bolger. "big and good for scaring people"
- Liza Hempstock: A ghost who resides in an unmarked grave on the edge of the cemetery.
- Jay Frost (Fake Name): The nice old man whose hobby is tombstone rubbings. A man that makes friends with Scarlett also.
- Abanazer Bolger: Owner of a pawn/junk/antique shop.
- Miss Lupescu: She teaches Bod about the real world. Also, takes care of Bod when Silias is away.
- Maureen (aka 'Mo') Quilling: One of the Students at Bods school. She is a bully, she makes kids give up their pocket money to her, if they don't she makes up something tells the teacher and they get in trouble.
- Scarlett Amber Perkins: Bod's best friend. She moves and then Bod starts to miss her.
- Nick Farthing: He is a student at Bod's school. He is also a bully, and is in association with Mo.
- Josiah Worthington: A ghost in the cemetery. Formerly a brewer, politician and baronet.
Memorable Quotes
-
“Rattle his bones / Over the stones / It’s only a pauper / Who nobody owns”
Traditional Nursery Rhyme -
““I want to see life. I want to hold it in my hands. I want to leave a footprint on the sand of a desert island. I want to play football with people. I want,” he said, and then he paused and he thought. “I want everything.””
Bod Owens -
“‘I’m not actually in pain. I just – well, there’s a girl I used to know, and i wasn’t sure if I should find her and talk to her or if I should just forget about it.’ “Oh! You must go to her and implore her. You must call her your Terpsichore, your Echo, your Clytemnestra. You must write poems for her, mighty odes – I shall help you write them – and thus – and only thus – shall you win your true love’s heart.””
Bod on whether he should talk to scarlett, and Nehemiah Trot the poet on love.
First Sentence
There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.
Table of Contents
1: How Nobody Came to the Graveyard
2: The New Friend
3: The Hounds of God
4: The Witch's Headstone
5: Danse Macabre
Interlude: The Convocation
6: Nobody Owens' School Days
7: Every Man Jack
8: Leavings and Partings
Authors & Contributors
- Neil Gaiman (Author)
Awards
- Newbery Medal (2009)
- Hugo (2009: Best science fiction novel)
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