Coraline

Coraline
by Neil Gaiman

Harper Collins Publishers, 2002







Genre:  Horror, Science fiction/Fantasy

Honors:  Hugo Award for Best Novella, Nebula Award for Best Novella, Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers, British Short Fiction Award Winner

Review:  Coraline and her work-at-home parents have moved into a new apartment. Strangely enough, the apartment has a door that opens but is all bricked up; it even has a lock and key. Coraline is intrigued by this mysterious addition to her home, and one day finds a tunnel behind that door that leads her into a different and extremely horrific world. When she refuses to stay in this alternate world, her fake mother with button eyes steals her parents and Coraline embarks on a frightening adventure to rescue them.

Opinion:  Deliciously frightful, but not overwhelmingly so. I found this book to be a really thrilling and exciting read. I especially loved the cat character that Gaiman created, one that could speak in the 'other' world, but was a mere cat in the real human world.

Ideas:  This book would work great on a display with other Hugo Award winners for books that are chosen as great science fiction or fantasy pieces, and would educate the masses a little about this particular award.