Coraline (2002) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“Normally I don't really pay a hell of a lot of attention to the ratings given by others to the books that I read, but I couldn't help but notice that a goodly number of my on-line 'friends' have read Neil Gaiman's Coraline, and they either loved it (4-5 stars), or thought it was a real stinker (1-2 stars). I'm in the 'loved-it' camp--quite solidly, actually.

This beautiful little book can, and should, appeal to readers of all ages, including my precocious and intelligent seven year-old grandson (who, by the bye, is reading The Hobbit now). This little fairytale is all about the notion of "the grass is not always greener on the other side"; courage and fidelity to one's beliefs; the love of family and friends; and most importantly perhaps, that one must stand up and fight injustice whenever it is encountered. Little Coraline does all of this in spades. In short, this little girl is my hero.

As a bit of a sidenote, something else that I've noticed is that Gaiman has a thing for doors, doesn't he? Hmmm...Think about it. In his novel Stardust there is a gate to Faerie; and in Neverwhere the young woman, Door, is able to find, open, and pass through doors that are portals to other planes and places; and then our own Coraline and the 'fourteenth' door in her parents' flat that opens upon the alternate world of her "other Mother" and "other Father" and some other creepy doings.

Being the father of two beautiful daughters, this little tale cast me back to the days of watching their inquisitive natures and insatiable curiosities as they began exploring the world around them and the people they encountered. So, while there are some superb moral lessons for children in this book, there are an equal number of lessons for the parents and grandparents of children too. Foremost is to pay attention to and unconditionally love our children, and in so doing that is likely enough to prevent them from seeking out or, worse yet, actually finding a set of "other parents" behind the "fourteenth door".

Coraline is a wonderful little book to pass around to all of the adults and children in your life.”

• Rated 3 stars

“ok, this book is about a girl name coraline,that is verry adventureous and likes to explore. one day she was counting all doors in her house and all but one of them was able to open. she suddenly goes to tell her parents. they get a key and unlock the door theres a brick wall! later in the book coralines parents go out to get food for supper. while there gone she grabs the key and unlocks the door. only thing theres something not quite right. the brick wall was gone! she carefully walks through.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Probably the most scariest book I've ever read, and probably ever will read. But it was great and I loved all the little intriguing characters. Including the "Other" characters.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Coraline is a children's story about an adventuresome little girl who gets more of an adventure than she bargained for. Her adventure is quite creepy and may have given me nightmares as a child. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“Good
I don't know if I like the movie or book better”

• Rated 5 stars

“This is a quirky little book. It's a bit dark, but definitely something I would love to read as a child. Then again, I was pretty odd as a kid...”

• Rated 3 stars

“Not really what I had expected. Read it in about 2 hours and overall I enjoyed it. There just wasn't anything that jumped out or made it fantastic. Kind of a disappointment after hearing so many wonderful things about it. I felt it was sort of mediocre in comparison to some of his other stories. ”

• Rated 2 stars

“Everyone kept saying this book was creepy, and it was, but I guess I wasn't reading it from a kid's perspective. It wasn't my favorite story by Gaiman. It was a quick read, though.”

• Rated 4 stars

“This novel is about a young girl move in to a new town, a new house, a new home She meets new strangers that seem to be very nice, but very weird some of them talk to mice! Coraline is the type of girl who likes to explore, be different! When she and her family move in, Coraline scours through the whole neigh boor hood to find something to explore. Her parents work all the time, so they never have time to spend quality time with their only child. When she's done exploring every corner of her surroundings, she is led to a door. She find out that this little door, in the day only has bricks behind it, but at night has a tunnel which leads to a new, fascinating world. Like any girl who is bored, and likes to explore she crawls through the tunnel and it leads to.... her hallway. Even though this looks like her hallway, she can hear humming, and smell exquisite food. She rushed down to the kitchen only to find on, what looks to be her mother, having her face turned and doing the dishes. Although, the food looks so mouth watering, Coraline thought she was having a dream. But, when her mother turned around she smiled, and instead of having eyes, she had had buttons. The more Coraline got closer with this new family more troubles came. Suddenly, her dream turned into a nightmare.
This is an adventures, and mysterious novel which can scare you terribly. It's a short, interesting, and definitely addicting. I suggest this book from 10 to 12 year olds. I found this book extreme! If I would have to give a rating from one, to ten I would definitely give it a eight or a nine.”

• Rated 5 stars

“One of my re-reads. In fact I've read this maybe 35 times. MUCH better than the movie :P”