Coraline - Hardcover

Gaiman, Neil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1408818612 ISBN 13: 9781408818619

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2012

Synopsis

There is something strange about Coraline's new home. It's not the mist, or the cat that always seems to be watching her, nor the signs of danger that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, her new neighbours, read in the tea leaves. It's the other house - the one behind the old door in the drawing room. Another mother and father with black-button eyes and papery skin are waiting for Coraline to join them there. And they want her to stay with them. For ever. She knows that if she ventures through that door, she may never come back.

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:

Sometimes funny, always creepy, genuinely moving, this marvellous spine-chiller will appeal to readers from nine to ninety (Books for Keeps)

I was looking forward to Coraline and I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was enthralled. This is a marvellously strange and scary book (Philip Pullman, Guardian)

If any writer can get the guys to read about the girls, it should be Neil Gaiman. Coraline is a dreamlike adventure. For all its gripping nightmare imagery, this is actually a conventional fairy story with a moral (Daily Telegraph)

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1408818612
• ISBN 13: 9781408818619
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208
• Illustrator: Riddell Chris