Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book is a coming-of-age story exploring identity and the transitions from childhood to adolescence. However; Gaiman recognizes children navigating through life are not fragile creatures, but instead are susceptible to real life tragedy and have the capacity to feel complex emotions much like adults. From the beginning Nobody Owens has had tragedy strike, and has experienced feelings and emotions usually not thought of as childlike. Gaiman does not shelter his younger audience from these dark themes though, instead he explores them, sheds light on them, and offers a lesson to children that death should not be feared, but also one of which life should be embraced. The reader is taken through a time lapse of a toddler,…show more content… Death is inevitable, but society today treats it as a taboo. Death is something not be talked about, something to ignore unless faced directly with it, and even then it is kept at arms length. Children and the subject of death is not something often discussed. Today’s culture shelters children from what adults deem as to much, but in a society where children are at a constant exposure for inappropriate material, an idea as natural as death should not be feared. Dealing with life and death and the feelings in between is something every child is eventually exposed to and must learn to cope with those feelings when transitioning into adulthood. Robert Berg touches on the subject of death and coming of age in his overview for Gale Literary Reviews. Berg explains the passage between Bod and Silas when Silas is explaining why it is important Bod wins his fight. Silas explains while there is nothing wrong with death, once you are dead you are not free to live anymore. (Berg) This idea might seem morbid, but there is comfort in truth and acceptance. Berg explains, “…reassuring young readers that death is not to be feared, and the same time explaining why it is important to live and make one’s mark on the world first. (Berg) Life and death deals with absolutes, but there is an in between children are living and Gaiman does an excellent job instilling in children to embrace the journey and everything in