num_pages: 195
description: Coraline lives with her preoccupied parents in part of a huge old house--a house so huge that other people live in it, too... round, old former actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible and their aging Highland terriers ("We trod the boards, luvvy") and the mustachioed old man under the roof ("'The reason you cannot see the mouse circus,' said the man upstairs, 'is that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed.'") Coraline contents herself for weeks with exploring the vast garden and grounds. But with a little rain she becomes bored--so bored that she begins to count everything blue (153), the windows (21), and the doors (14). And it is the 14th door that--sometimes blocked with a wall of bricks--opens up for Coraline into an entirely alternate universe. Now, if you're thinking fondly of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, you're on the wrong track. Neil Gaiman's Coraline is far darker, far stranger, playing on our deepest fears. And, like Roald Dahl's work, it is delicious.  What's on the other side of the door? A distorted-mirror world, containing presumably everything Coraline has ever dreamed of... people who pronounce her name correctly (not "Caroline"), delicious meals (not like her father's overblown "recipes"), an unusually pink and green bedroom (not like her dull one), and plenty of horrible (very un-boring) marvels, like a man made out of live rats. The creepiest part, however, is her mirrored parents, her "other mother" and her "other father"--people who look just like her own parents, but with big, shiny, black button eyes, paper-white skin... and a keen desire to keep her on their side of the door. To make creepy creepier, Coraline has been illustrated masterfully in scritchy, terrifying ink drawings by British mixed-media artist and Sandman cover illustrator Dave McKean. This delightful, funny, haunting, scary as heck, fairy-tale novel is about as fine as they come. Highly recommended. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson
language: English
title: Coraline
titlecomplete: Coraline
characters: Miriam Forcible, Coraline Jones, The Other Father, Mr. Bobo, The Cat, Coraline, Mrs. Jones, April Spink, The Other Mother, Mr. Jones
genres: Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Horror, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Paranormal, Childrens, Fantasy, Audiobook
ratings_count: 653980
places: England, United Kingdom
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Bram Stoker Award
category: Best Work for Young Readers, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Hugo Award
category: Best Novella, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Nebula Award
category: Best Novella, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Locus Award
category: Best Young Adult Novel, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: World Fantasy Award
category: Best Novella, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award
category: Children's Literature, awardedAt: 1672560000000
name: Audie Award
category: Audio Drama and for Middle Grade, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, name: Child Magazine Best Book of the Year, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
category: Best Publication for Teens/Tweens, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Elizabeth Burr / Worzalla Award, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Premi Protagonista Jove
category: Categoria 13-14 anys
publisher: HarperTrophy