Coraline

Title: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0380977788

Recommended for Grades 6-10
Genre: Fiction-Fantasy-Horror

Reader’s Annotation:
Coraline loves to explore. On her first day in her new home she discovers a locked door, and the bricks behind it once it’s opened. One day the bricks are gone and a passage is open and Coraline goes exploring…

Plot Summary:
Coraline and her family have moved into a new house. Corlaine explores every inch of the house and the grounds. Except for one room. It is locked and when her mother opens it they discover a wall of bricks blocking the doorway. When Coraline opens the door herself the bricks are gone. Journeying down the mysterious passage, Coraline discovers another house almost exactly like her own. There is Other Mother and Other Father and her neighbors also, but there is one major difference. They all have black buttons for eyes. For Coraline to stay in this other world she must let Other Mother replace her eyes with buttons. When Coraline discovers the fate of the other children Other Mother had seduced into the Other World, she and her friend the cat must figure out how to escape, find the souls of the children that Other Mother has stolen and make it back to the real world.

Evaluation:
Coraline faces the temptation of the Other World, which on the surface appears to be perfect and everything that she wanted. She is willing to put herself and her chance of escaping at risk in order to help save others. Gaiman's book helps to teach the classic lesson of “be careful what you wish for.”

Notes:
In 2007 Focus Features released a 3D theatrical adaptation of Coraline.