Category: Children's Book
Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
ISBN-13: 9780380807345
Pub. Date: August 2003
Date Read: October 2008
“She dreamed of black shapes that slid from place to place, avoiding the light, until they were all gathered together under the moon. Little black shapes with little red eyes and sharp yellow teeth.”
For Coraline the new house she and her parents have just moved into offers a new world to explore. She meets the strange neighbors, two old ladies who warn of danger and an upstairs neighbor who trains a mouse circus but despite all of that Coraline is bored until one day she finds a door.
And, through that door Coraline finds the same carpet, the same wallpaper and even some parents that are almost like her parents. She likes this alternate universe but when the new parents propose that she stay she says she’d rather not. It’s a bit unsettling what she’ll have to do to remain at the new home.
Unfortunately for Coraline it won’t be so easy to return to her old parents and her house. The new mother is quite taken with her and doesn’t want her to leave so she kidnaps Coraline’s parents. Coraline proposes a challenge and if she wins that means she gets her real parents back and she can go back to her life.
The author does a wonderful job creating this fantasy tale. I think what really works here is that it plays on our childhood fears. Whether you were afraid of the dark, strange noises or being alone, it’s all here and more.
While this children’s book has a lot of elements young readers can enjoy, it is also a very creepy tale that is sure to entertain any adult. I loved Coraline and know she would have been just the perfect heroine I would have admired as a young reader. Actually even as an adult I admire her courageous spirit and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her adventure.