Coraline (Hardcover)

Shortly after moving into an old house with strange tenants above and below, Coraline discovers a big, carved, brown wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room. And it is locked. Curiosity runs riot in Coraline's mind and she unlocks the door to see what lies behind it. Disappointingly, it opens onto a brick wall. Days later, after exploring the rest of the house and garden, Coraline returns to the same mysterious door and opens it again. This time, however, there is a dark hallway in front of her. Stepping inside, the place beyond has an eerie familiarity about it. The carpet and wallpaper are the same as in her flat. The picture hanging on the wall is the same. Almost. Strangest of all, her mum and dad are there too. Only they have buttons for eyes and seem more possessive than normal. It's a twisted version of her world that is familiar, and yet sinister. And matters get even more surreal for Coraline when her "other" parents seem reluctant to let her leave.

Her attempted escape from this nightmare alternative reality sees Coraline experience a chilling series of ever more bizarre encounters. Some are plainly odd, others disturbingly spooky and together they combine to form an immensely readable story. It's like all the best bits of the Goosebumps books condensed into 160 pages. A unique reading experience guaranteed. (Ages 10 and over)--John McLay

Review
"I think this book will nudge ALICE IN WONDERLAND out of its niche at last. It is the most splendidly original, weird, and frightening book I have read, and yet full of things children will love." Diana Wynne Jones "This book will send a shiver down your spine, out through your shoes and into a taxi to the airport. It has the delicate horror of the finest fairy tales, and it is a masterpiece. And you will never think about buttons in quite the same way again." Terry Pratchett

Coraline's family has just moved into a new flat in what was once a large mansion house. Her neighbours, Miss Forcible and Miss Spink, are about 100 years old and think they can read danger in the tea leaves, and the crazy old man upstairs keeps mice that not only talk to him but are training to become the first ever mouse circus. It's the school holidays, so while the weather is good Coraline explores the enormous garden of her new home, discovering all sorts of nooks and crannies, deserted wells and hidey-holes in her travels. The days pass quickly, but when the weather changes and the rain pours down she is ordered inside and she quickly becomes restless. Counting the number of doors in her new house one day in an effort to relieve her boredom, Coraline discovers a door that won't budge. Her curiosity aroused, she asks her mother to unlock it, only to find a solid brick wall behind the locked door. That night Coraline hears a sound that wakes her from a deep sleep. Following the noise she is led to the same door, but instead of a brick wall she finds a gloomy corridor. Although a little frightened, her curiosity is aroused and before she has time to think, Coraline ventures down the corridor to discover a duplicate world. It's the same flat, but some of the details are just slightly different, and most surprisingly of all, she finds a duplicate mother and father who look the same but are a lot more sinister. This is a scary but riveting story for older children. The imagination it has taken to develop the story line is mind-boggling, and the story is fresh and exciting. Look out for more novels for children by this clever and accomplished author. Ages 10+ (Kirkus UK)

A magnificently creepy fantasy pits a bright, bored little girl against a soul-eating horror that inhabits the reality right next door. Coraline's parents are loving, but really too busy to play with her, so she amuses herself by exploring her family's new flat. A drawing-room door that opens onto a brick wall becomes a natural magnet for the curious little girl, and she is only half-surprised when, one day, the door opens onto a hallway and Coraline finds herself in a skewed mirror of her own flat, complete with skewed, button-eyed versions of her own parents. This is Gaiman's (American Gods, 2001, etc.) first novel for children, and the author of the Sandman graphic novels here shows a sure sense of a child's fears-and the child's ability to overcome those fears. "I will be brave," thinks Coraline. "No, I am brave." When Coraline realizes that her other mother has not only stolen her real parents but has also stolen the souls of other children before her, she resolves to free her parents and to find the lost souls by matching her wits against the not-mother. The narrative hews closely to a child's-eye perspective: Coraline never really tries to understand what has happened or to fathom the nature of the other mother; she simply focuses on getting her parents back and thwarting the other mother for good. Her ability to accept and cope with the surreality of the other flat springs from the child's ability to accept, without question, the eccentricity and arbitrariness of her own-and every child's own-reality. As Coraline's quest picks up its pace, the parallel world she finds herself trapped in grows ever more monstrous, generating some deliciously eerie descriptive writing. Not for the faint-hearted-who are mostly adults anyway-but for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister: Coraline is spot on. (Fiction. 9-12) (Kirkus Reviews)

See all Product Description

• Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Horror
• Books > Horror > Authors > Authors, A-Z > G > Gaiman, Neil
• Books > Horror > Authors > Authors, A-Z > M > McKean, Dave
• Books > Horror > Contemporary Horror
• Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > G > Gaiman, Neil

• Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
• I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
• I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.