Coraline - Softcover

Gaiman, Neil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061649694 ISBN 13: 9780061649691

Publisher: Harperfestival, 2008

Synopsis

When Coraline explores her new home, she steps through a door and into another house just like her own . . . except that it's different. It's a marvelous adventure until Coraline discovers that there's also another mother and another father in the house. They want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to keep her forever!

Coraline must use all of her wits and every ounce of courage in order to save herself and return home.

About this title

Review:

Despite being mostly known for his fantastical graphic novels and adult fiction, Neil Gaiman's first book for children is everything that you would expect from such a massive imagination as his. It's special and wonderful and very weird indeed. Described by some as the new Alice in Wonderland, Coraline is actually more bizarre than that, much more frightening and its modest length definitely adds to the book's undiluted potency.

Shortly after moving into an old house with strange tenants above and below, Coraline discovers a big, carved, brown wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room. And it is locked. Curiosity runs riot in Coraline's mind and she unlocks the door to see what lies behind it. Disappointingly, it opens onto a brick wall. Days later, after exploring the rest of the house and garden, Coraline returns to the same mysterious door and opens it again. This time, however, there is a dark hallway in front of her. Stepping inside, the place beyond has an eerie familiarity about it. The carpet and wallpaper are the same as in her flat. The picture hanging on the wall is the same. Almost. Strangest of all, her mum and dad are there too. Only they have buttons for eyes and seem more possessive than normal. It's a twisted version of her world that is familiar, and yet sinister. And matters get even more surreal for Coraline when her "other" parents seem reluctant to let her leave.

Her attempted escape from this nightmare alternative reality sees Coraline experience a chilling series of ever more bizarre encounters. Some are plainly odd, others disturbingly spooky and together they combine to form an immensely readable story. It's like all the best bits of the Goosebumps books condensed into 160 pages. A unique reading experience guaranteed. (Ages 10 and over)--John McLay

Review:

"A truly creepy tale. Beware those button eyes!" -- Family Fun Magazine

"A magnificently creepy story.for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister, Coraline is spot on." -- Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

By turns creepy and funny, bittersweet and playful can be read quickly and enjoyed deeply. --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

A magnificently creepy story for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister, Coraline is spot on. --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Gaiman's pacing is superb, and he steers the tension of the tale with a deft and practiced narrative touch."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Chilly, finely-wrought prose, a truly weird setting and a fable that taps into our most uncomfortable fears."--Times Educational Supplement

"Gaiman's tale is inventive, scary, thrilling and finally affirmative. Readers young and old will find something to startle them."--Washington Post Book World

"A modern ghost story with all the creepy trimmings...Well done."--New York Times Book Review

"So wonderfully whimsical that readers of all ages will hungrily devour itCoraline is destined to become a classic.--Globe and Mail (Toronto)

"The most splendidly original, weird, and frightening book I have read, and yet full of things children will love."--Diana Wynne Jones

About this edition

• Publisher: Harperfestival
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0061649694
• ISBN 13: 9780061649691
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176
• Illustrator: McKean Dave