Coraline Jones is a bright young girl with the soul of an explorer, and the heart of a hero. When her family moves into their new flat, she occupies herself with exploring her new environs. This leads her to the strange old man with the mouse circus, and the elderly ladies downstairs who once used to be actresses. It also leads Coraline to the mysterious fourteenth door in her flat, a door that leads nowhere, kept locked at all times. Being curious, Coraline naturally unlocks this door one day, and enters a nightmarish copy of her own world. In this world, cats talk, dogs attend perpetual theatrical performances, and twisted versions of her parents with buttons for eyes tempt her with delights and dreams. Being wise, Coraline rejects these temptations for the safe familiarity of home. For a time. But when her parents vanish, Coraline is forced to go back into this bizarre other world, and utilize every ounce of courage and cunning and her explorer’s spirit in order to win back her normal life. Even with the help of an aloof cat and a magical rock, can she withstand the might of something very old, and very unaccustomed to losing? Coraline, her parents, and the previous victims of this unearthly ‘other mother’ all hang in the balance, relying upon the wits of a little girl.
Coraline is like a Gothic Alice in Wonderland, alternatively absurd and chilling, infused with a very real sense of danger to the heroine, as well as the reassurance that everything might be okay if she keeps a cool head. It’s sly and imaginative as only Neil Gaiman could imagine, filled with his trademark wit, attention to voice, and complex ideas. Bricked-up doors leading to a disturbing copy of our own world, hands that click and crawl around separate from a body, ghostly children trapped behind a mirror, and talking animals invoke the very best fairy tales and Victorian parlor tales, without talking down to the children’s audience it’s aimed at. With appropriately twisted illustrations by frequent Gaiman collaborator, artist Dave McKean, Coraline is sure to please, as well as influence the reader to leave a nightlight on afterwards. Just in case. Gaiman has long been noted for his award-winning Sandman comic book series and his more adult literary efforts, such as American Gods, but with this all-ages-appropriate offering, he really shines.