TITLE: Coraline
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman
PAGE COUNT: 162 pages
PUBLISHER: William Morrow Paperbacks
PUBLICATION DATE: 24 January 2002
GENRE: Fantasy, Horror & Middle Grade
SYNOPSIS: The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring….
In Coraline’s family’s new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.
The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.
Only it’s different.
At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there’s another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.
Critically acclaimed and award-winning author Neil Gaiman will delight readers with his first novel for all ages.
This book was one I have been wanting to get to for such a long time and I am so happy that I finally read it. I honestly did not think I would love this story as much as I did.
From the first chapter, I knew I would be completely immersed in the story. I loved the creepy and spooky atmosphere and Coraline with the black cat. The both of them had me chuckling throughout the book and they kept me extremely amused.
The story kept me glued to my seat and I really flew through it. It was a fast-paced and short read—perfect for getting me out of my reading slump. Coraline is such a strong character and I loved the moral of the story.
This book went deeper than I think anyone expects it to. It teaches you that the grass is not always greener on the other side, to appreciate what you have and to be strong and face your fears—no matter how dark the night seems. This book also teaches you to always do the right thing, even if it seems impossible.
It is not only the perfect Halloween read but it is a book that will stick with me for a long time and I just know that I will reread it many more times in the future!
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
“I don’t want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn’t mean anything? What then?”
“Because,” she said, “when you’re scared but you still do it anyway, that’s brave.”
“Mirrors,” she said, “are never to be trusted.”
And, after all, it is always easier to be afraid of something you cannot see.
Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.
Coraline wondered why so few of the adults she had met made any sense. She sometimes wondered who they thought they were talking to.
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaimanis an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals.
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