Plot: Coraline's life is boring. Her parents are busy, her neighbors are old, her house is strange, and the weather will not cooperate. On an especially rainy day, she discovers a locked door. The door opens to a brick wall but, one day, while her mother grocery shops, Coraline opens the door to discover...her own parlor. As she enters the house, she discovers an other world, where her other mother fixes her food, encourages her to meet her other neighbors, and explore her other bedroom. While parts of the other world tend to be disconcerting, Coraline finds it much more interesting than her old world. Her other mother wishes her to stay, but Coraline declines. When she returns home, her parents are missing. The other mother uses them as bait to reclaim her "darling Coraline" and keep her for ever and always.
Genre: Horror
Reading Level: Like the Harry Potter series, the book is aimed at tweens, but is very enjoyable for teens and adults. It may be too intense for younger readers, though.
Similar Titles: Graveyard Book
Personal Thoughts: Like many readers, I became interested in the book when I saw trailers for the movie in 2009. I like it a bit more than the movie. Do not misunderstand me; the movie is remarkable. However, the book manages to draw the reader in and promptly freak him or her out. Coraline is a bit more relatable in the book. She is not a bad kid, but energetic, eager to explore, and easily bored. While the movie stresses the delights of the other world, the book displays a more interesting world with something innately wrong. The reader and Coraline do not discover the entirety of the strangeness until later, but something detectable is definitely not right within the other world. Still, the other world is genuinely tempting and Coraline must question her courage and her cause to defeat the other mother. Coraline, in the book, is the sole heroine. While the other characters offer invaluable help, Coraline is ultimately the only one that can stop the monster and save herself, her family, and others.
I like it, but I am not sure I could read it at night. What makes the book really convincing is the fact that it combines so many fears, such as the fear of being alone, the fear of change, the fear of losing someone important, the fear of kidnapping, the fear of unknown, and, even, the fear of spiders, that everyone faces to some degree. However, Gaiman points out the goal of the story is not merely to show readers the world is scary. He intends to show them the scary things can be defeated. Coraline manages that magnificently.
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