Review: Coraline

Title: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
ISBN/Publisher: 978-0-06-113937-6/Harper Perennial (part of Harper Collins)
Age Group/Genre: Kids + (I would say 10 and older)

Coraline and her family moved to a new building with neighbors that just don't get her name. The guy upstairs who plays with mice and the ladies downstairs who still are living in their acting days call her Caroline. Oh, and her parents are always busy...working and never having time for little Coraline. So Coraline has to find ways to entertain herself in this weird building and its raining outside.

Coraline's dad suggests that she go explore the place and count all the doors and windows in their new home. The thing is, she finds this one mysterious door that is locked and her mom says its nothing but a brick wall behind it. But curiosity gets the better of Coraline and she unlocks it to find an odd, different world. Here she finds her "other" parents that want to entertain her and feed her everything that she loves.

At first, it seems perfect, but when she wants to return back to her real home and parents, the "other" mother doesn't want her to. Will Coraline escape this "other" world?

I'm not quite sure if I had more expectations for this book or if it's too much of a children's book. But I felt as if this one was an okay book (maybe I shouldn't have bought it). However, I'm sure I can pass it on to my nephews when they're a little bit older because it seems like the kind of a book boys would like to read (even if the main character is a girl). I think it's because this book has that scary edge to it. And even good lessons about appreciating your parents.

But for me, I think the book could have had better character development (that could just be the fact that I love character based books). The weird neighbors were interesting, but I liked the children in the "other" world. Their story was the most interesting for me and I wished it was more developed. On the bright side, the descriptions were wonderful and the theater scenes were fun to imagine.

This is a book that elementary teachers can definitely recommend to their young students. But as an adult, I found parts of it kind of creepy and too weird for me.

Get this book for your favorite kid or I would recommend you to just borrow it.

Favorite lines...

"Because," she said, "when you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave." page 59

"You really don't understand, do you?" she said. "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?" page 120

My Rating

(This book was bought from a store called FullyBooked).

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because it's Maureen Johnson's month, grab her fave: iced tea...or anything with ginger...or mint (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***