Coraline

Coraline

Neil Gaiman

Harper Collins 2003


ISBN:0-380-80734-3





Plot Summary: Coraline steps through a wall from a locked door and finds herself in a darker version of her own home. Her "other" parents live there, and her "other" mother at first seems to be exactly what she's always wanted, she cooks whatever Coraline wants, she wants her there all the time, but then Coraline realizes that she isn't quite right. She wants to turn Coraline into a doll-like figure, or an "other" of herself. She tries to sew button eyes onto her face. She also tries to keep Coraline there FOREVER!

She starts to despise the "other" parents, the "other" mother is mean and tries to trap her in the dark garden, and the blob of a dad obeys the "other" mother and chases Coraline.


At the same time, Coraline realizes her real parents are trapped somewhere in between and she wants to return home with them, but cannot. In order to free them, the other mother and Coraline make a deal. Coraline must find the glass spheres or she will have to stay forever, but if she finds them and wins, she can free them and the ghost children trapped by "other" mother in the past.

Coraline travels with a cat, and it talks to her in the "other"world but cannot at home. The cat helps her defeat "other" mother and scratches at her button eyes.

Critical Analysis: This Alice and Wonderland like story takes Coraline on an adventure where she is the heroine. Gaiman's construction is beautifully creepy. Coraline starts out resenting her real parents, but as the story progresses, she misses her family and longs for the stability and normalcy in her real home. She learns the lesson about how as cliche as it sounds, parents have rules to keep us healthy and safe.
Teens can identify with the time in their life when they wanted everything right away, and moving toward adolescence where one appreciates the comfort of home rather than toys and cake.

Annotation: Coraline explores her new home and finds herself on the "other" side. On the "other" side the "other"parents try to spoil Coraline and feed her sweets, and Coraline loves the doting. Then Coraline realizes the "other" mother wants to make her an "other"and keep forever and Coraline must work to escape.

Genre: fantasy
Age Level- Interest Level: 7th grade and up
While this book is for younger children, it is also on the list by YALSA fo Teen Read Week as a great choice. The subject matter is engaging and fun.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/trw/trw2004/books.cfm

Booktalk Ideas:
1.) Can you remember a time you wished for different parents?
2.) Does the cat by any chance remind you of a cat in another fantasy book?
3)Gaiman creates haunting images in the "other" mother, why are the button eyes so horrific?

Author Information: Neil Gaiman was born in England, and now lives in Minneapolis, MN. He is forty-ish and has two children; a son and a daughter. He has won many awards and is a best-selling author. To read more, (and there is a lot to read, all interesting) visit his website: http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/About_Neil/Biography

Curriculum: There are none.

Challenge Issues: There are none.

Selection reasons: I agree that it is a great book for teens to read for fun; Go Teen Read Week! While this is a juvenile book, it appeals like many other dark fantasy items, to teens. Hot topic carries Nightmare for Christmas items for teens for this reason. Teens enjoy the macabre and like Gaiman's daughter said at sixteen when she read the book, "you are never too old for Coraline."