Coraline

 

Coraline. Neil Gaiman. New York: Harper Trophy, 2002. 162 pages. $6.99 (Paperback). ISBN 978-0-380-80734-5. Grades 4-8.

Had it not rained Coraline may not have noticed that the “big, carved, brown wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room” was locked or that it led to a wall of bricks when it was opened. Had Coraline not grown bored a few days later and returned to the door she may not have discovered the bricks were gone. Had she not walked in to the dark corridor behind that door she may not have found another world, slightly familiar but incredibly different. Coraline must use her ambition, intelligence, and strength to outsmart her other world captors, not only to return to her normal life, but to survive. Neil Gaiman paints a magically dark and fantastical world of mystery, adventure, wit and cleverness in Coraline. He skillfully weaves details together to create a world so implausible that it seems real and readers find themselves lost in it. Although frightening, this story will appeal to curiosity and sense of adventure in youth and remind them not to take their lives for granted. Highly Recommended  

My Thoughts…

As much as it pains me to admit this, my first thoughts while and after reading this book were: Oh my goodness I am glad I read this during the day time and I am a big scaredy cat. While I found this story engaging, interesting, and thrilling to read, it made me a little nervous and scared. I don’t know if I would have been able to read this as a fourth or fifth grader and been able to sleep afterwards even if I knew it was completely fictional. I didn’t even want to talk about this book before going to bed because I knew the potential for nightmares was there. I did love how Coraline was developed and the seemingly insignificant details of her housemates in the beginning, because as the story developed and she entered the ‘other side’ of the door we were reminded of the plain, every day characters and how maybe they weren’t so bad. I liked that Coraline was an explorer and had a desire to be active. I think that kids need to see active children in stories so they don’t forget that there is more than video games and television. Curiosity also fuels Coraline’s character and I think the adventure she gets herself in to encourages children to follow their curiosity to in order to find something more than the old tired games in front of them. On the other hand, the adventure she faces is TERRIFYING, and seems to encourage the old adage, curiosity killed the cat.

I thought the images described in this book were terribly twisted, but fascinating and cool. I thought the amount of detail was perfect and really set this book up for a great movie. I do wonder if the film does the story justice, but I may be too scared to ever actually watch it. While I think the story itself was a little dark, I think Coraline’s adventure and character embody classic memorable tales.

At first I thought I didn’t like this book, but the more I thought about it the more I realized how great it is!

Potential Reaction…

I imagine that every person who reads this book will react differently, especially when every possible fear or phobia seems to be addressed at one point or another. I think youth who love adventure and scary stories will be head over heels when they read this book and wish for a similar experience in their own life, but youth who get too caught up in details or are easily spooked may be a little scared by this story. I do think the story does a great job of appealing to both genders, however. Coraline is a go-getting girl who sets a positive example as smart, adventurous, and brave; but there are bugs, ‘monsters,’ evil animals, etc that will appeal to boy readers. I also think that every young person can identify with Coraline’s initial feeling of boredom when she is tired of all her toys, can’t go outside, and has no one to entertain her. I know I wish I could have some sort of adventure on a rainy day, and I think other youth feel the same way. I think they will get lost in Coraline’s adventure because it is something that they too have longed for…even if it is quite a bit different than hers.

While the fantastic adventure is far from plausible, I think readers will overlook the impossibility of it and enjoy the magical, fantastical story. Some fantasy books seem to try to convince readers the stories are actually possible, but Gaiman abandons all that and writes a captivating story that convinces readers it really happened to Coraline, but won’t happen to them. I do think, however, that there are possible negative reactions to this story based on the fear level alone. Having buttons sewed over your eyes is enough to make me want to die, but being scared of maniacal and evil parents is worse. I do think, however, that the story is so crazy that the fear can be eased knowing that it will never happen.  

Reminds Me Of…

The sense of adventure and worlds just beyond ours (specifically through doors) instantly reminded me of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, especially my favorite The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. While the two worlds of these different tales vary, each does show a dark, menacing side where one tyrannical leader wants everything her way. Both stories create worlds with wonder and splendor and friends, but also create an imbalance that shows that the real world may still be better. Carol’s Alice in Wonderland is another fantastic place, a little sunnier than that in Coraline, but full of talking creatures, games, wit, and a brand new adventure.  Although I have not seen the film adaption of this book that was directed by Tim Burton, I did see an instant connection between this story and some of Burton’s other films. I think if readers enjoyed this book and Burton’s film then they would love to watch his other ones.