A catch up with Coraline

Coraline is a book that I have been using to engage reluctant readers for over 5 years now. I'd love to say I'd read it first, or even watched the movie adaptation; but that would make me a liar. All I've known with certainty was that it was known for it's scare factor. After all, the guy who directed the movie was also responsible for 'The Nightmare before Christmas'.

I would say the same thing to children every time they were looking in the library for a good book:
'Fancy a good scare, Coraline is the book for you.'
Last week whilst struggling to find a decent version of an epic poem (long story which will be explained in due course) I picked Coraline up in my son's room and flicked through it.
At a mere 192 pages it appeared to be an easy read.

It was just that, a very easy read, not because of simple language but because the plot was so addictive. I'd love to say that it scared me half as much as I thought it would but it didn't. Instead it deeply unsettled me, watching the protagonist being offered everything she could wish for, but knowing it would be at the expense of her life and soul (and I mean that literally).

The language was rich and beautiful. I have never read the words pell mell being used in a book before and I've done a lot of reading in my time! Neil Gaiman, the book's author has an incredible knack for throwing rare words into commonplace sentences and making them fit. Case in point the moment where he describes the ululating yowl of a cat (for those of you like me, who might have to go and look that one up it means a wail or howl).

The story is simple, Coraline is spending a summer in a new home with her parents: an apartment in a large, old building with even larger grounds outside. Bored, alone and practically ignored by her home working parents she discovers another world behind a secret door. This other world is a mirror image of her own and it offers her everything she could wish for: loving parents, neighbours who actually pronounce her name correctly and more excitement than she can handle.

But is all that worth the price she'll have to pay?

The story is very much a tale of a girl whose wandering into another world forces her to grow up. Anyone out there who has seen the brilliant film 'Spirited Away' will see a nearly identical theme. It struck a chord with me instantly and I know that come the end of the year Coraline will be one of the hardest books for me to forget.

Now I think I actually need to watch the movie and see if it will be anywhere near as good!

Book number 23 of my 52 book list and a book that became a film.

Book title: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: 2002
Pages: 192
Suitable for: children aged 9 and up
Interesting words: exposition, nefarious, ululating (prize for the most unusual word used in a children's book there!)