Coraline, a vivacious and curious only child, has moved with her parents into a large old house that has been subdivided into four units. She has odd neighbors whom she occasionally visits, but she feels alone for the most part. Her parents, although home, seem always to be working, and there are no other children around. It is while following her father's suggestion of counting windows and doors throughout the house that she discovers a little locked door in the one room in the house that is rarely used. Her mother finds the key, but it opens only to a brick wall separating sections of the house - or so Coraline thought at first. What Coraline later finds in the dark and without her parent's knowledge is that this door leads to her other world. Coraline's other world is ruled by her Other Mother. At first, she is charmed by her Other Mother and Father even though their eyes are simply black buttons. They take great interest in her and make true home-cooked meals. While she might enjoy the attention, she soon discovers how sinister Other Mother is and she is forced to save herself and her true parents from the world through that little door.

Coraline was a much different reading experience for me than The Graveyard Book or Neverwhere. While Other Mother is a creepy, evil character, she isn't developed in the same way as Gaiman's other villains. Her edge comes from her physical presence, while the ghouls or Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemaar make themselves apparent through their dialog. I found more delight in the Vandemaars and Bishops of Bath and Wells, but writing the Other Mother this way did bring spunky Coraline firmly front and center. What wasn't there for me in the way of banter, Coraline made up with her bravery and ingenuity. She is not afraid to get up and chase a shadow through a strange house and, when push comes to shove, she puts others before herself. She takes responsibility for her own problems and throws a thrilling tea party, too. In those ways, she was very real to me.

Who can remember daydreaming about having the perfect parents? I most certainly can. The parents in this fantasy fluctuated from kings and queens to Luke and Laura (yeah, I’m dating myself here). While I never had a problem with my mother’s cooking like Coraline did, there were many things that my Other Mother would have done better and with more finesse. What Coraline points out so beautifully is that often the characteristics and actions we prescribe to our “perfect parents” would in fact prove detrimental to us, at least to some extent. One of the things I remember longing for in my parental dream team was the permission to stay up as late as I desired. Had my parents allowed me to do that, they wouldn’t have been parenting at all. There’s no possibility that I could have performed at my best at school if I was exhausted all of the time. Regardless, getting whatever you want eventually loses its luster precisely because it’s not what you really need. You need parents who love you, take care of you, and provide you with the discipline you need to lead your most healthy, productive life.

Coraline reaffirmed my preference for reading a novel before seeing the film. We rented and watched "Coraline" a couple of months ago. I enjoyed the movie a great deal and loved what Tim Burton did with the animation. However, there was a character in the movie that played a prominent role that did not exist in the book. I spent a third of the novel waiting for him to arrive on the scene only to realize that he would never come. It was a distraction and I wished that I had come to this novel with a clean slate. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this novel a great deal and read it in less than 24 hours. I look forward to the day when I can read this with my daughters - and not just to put the fear of the Other Mother in their hearts (hey, they probably think they’ve already got one… LOL!) ( )

I wanted to love Coraline, and undoubtedly there are some great elements here. But I've come to realize something is lost in Gaiman's writing when there isn't a visual component to the story. Only half the equation of a brilliant writer is here. Unfortunately, that only equals an average writer. ( )

Coraline is a simply lovely story for children. It's a lovely blend of adventure, imagination, and scare. A tale about how getting everything you want, might not be what you imagined it to be. And most importantly Coraline shows us just exactly what bravery is. "...when you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave." ( )

Coraline Book Review
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. 2002. Harper Trophy: NewYork.
Genre: Supernatural Fiction
Themes: Horror, family relationships, parental love,

Age / Grade Appropriateness: Book is labeled 8 and up, but this seems young to me,

more appropriate to 10 and up.

Awards: 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella,

Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book 2003, 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work

for Young Readers, ALA Notable Children’s Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults,

A Publishers Weekly Best Book, A School Library Journal Best Book, A Child Magazine

Best Book, A Guardian Unlimited Best of 2002 selection, A BookSense 76 pick, A New

York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, An IRA/CBC Chrilden’s Choice, A Blue

Ribbon winner, and A New York Public Library “One Hundred Titles for Reading and

Sharing” selection.

Censorship Issues: Very scary and gruesome.

Plot Summary: Coraline moves into a new house that she explores from top to bottom. Her parents are very caught up in their work and when Coraline asks them what she can do, they suggest she visit the neighbors. The neighbors are Mr. Bobo, who trains rats to play musical instruments, and two former actresses, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, who live with a bunch of dogs. None of the neighbors ever say her name right and call her Caroline instead of Coraline. During her explorations, she discovers a locked door that opens to a brick wall separating her flat from the one next door. She uses the key one day to open the door and now the brick wall is gone and she enters into a house like hers, but better. The mother and father in this house seem happy to see her and want to entertain her. The food is delicious, the toys magical and the parents attentive. They seem great and so much better than her real parents, except for their creepy button eyes and that they want Coraline to stay forever on their side of the door. Coraline goes back home and discovers that her real parents are missing and that she will have to go back to save them. Her only help is the black cat, who can talk on the other side and a stone with a hole in it. She discovers that her parents are in a snow globe and that the other mother had stolen the souls of three children. She challenges the other mother to a game, that she can find the children’s lost souls and her parents and will go free or if she cannot the other mother can sew buttons onto her eyes. She looks through the stone and finds glowing marbles that contain the lost souls and tricks the other mother into opening the door so she can run through with the snow globe. While closing the door the other mother’s hand is caught and ends up on Coraline’s side. She lures it with the door key and makes it fall into the well.
Critique: This is not typical young adult literature. It is more of a cautionary tale to make the most of what you are given. It is a novella, so it is a quick read, with a quick resolution to Coraline’s problem. Everything about this story is creepy, especially the images you can imagine from the descriptive writing and the stark pencil drawings. Coraline is a strong character that children can relate to.
Curriculum Uses: The novel could be compared to the movie or students could write an alternate ending. This novel should be welcome in the middle school section of thrills and chills.

Genre: Fantasy
Media: Computer Generated
Appropriate Age: Intermediate and Middle School
Review: This book is a wonderful example of fantasy, because the protagonist, Coraline, finds herself in an other-world when she walks through a door in her home. All the people in this other-world have buttons for eyes, and Coroline's "other parents" try to convince her to leave her real parents and stay with them forever.

Character Analysis:
The "other mother" is the antagonist, and is the creator of the "other world" that Coraline finds herself in. The "other mother" creates the world for Coraline, so that she can convince her to stay, and care for her, or rather become her "slave". Coraline must discover key to the "other mother's" tricks so that she can free the other "slaves" and escape back to her real home.