Amelia's Book Reviews: Coraline

Okay, I think it’s about time I do a creepy book. Coraline and her parents have just moved into their new house, a nice old place. Sure, the neighbors are a bit odd-Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, with their collection of highland terriers and relics of their stage days, and the old man upstairs who is apparently training a mouse circus-but it has a large garden, and plenty of rooms for her to explore.

Coraline steps through a door one day that should lead into the empty flat next door, but instead, she finds a strange woman who looks exactly like her mother-with a few exceptions. Her skin is papery-white, her nails long and red, and strangest of all; she has big, black buttons for eyes.

The woman tells Coraline that she is her ‘other mother’, and she has another father too. The strange place seems to be the opposite of the world she came from. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible’s dogs speak, as does the black cat in the garden. Dave McKean’s slightly disturbing illustrations bring this spooky novel to life, and author Neil Gaiman perfects the art of horror.

Gaiman is also the author of Stardust, Neverwhere, and children’s books The Wolves In The Walls, and The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish.

If you’re interested in creepy, disturbing, and thought-provoking tales for teens, Coraline is the book for you. This is another soon-to-be movie; the animated film featuring the voices of Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher comes out February 2009. You can find the sneak preview and teaser trailer on Youtube.