129. CORALINE

Neil Gaiman 2002
with illustration by Dave McKean

An enjoyable and imaginative but spooky fairy tale with some eerie illustrations  perfect for older children. Soon after Coraline and her family moves into a new house, she discovers a secret door which leads to her other house, a better, livelier, and altogether more enjoyable replica of her current house, complete with her other neighbors and other parents all distinguishable as others because of their button eyes. She meets a wise black cat who helps her realize that the place isn't really what it seems to be and she soon discovers many appalling things including the fact that her parents have also disappeared. How does she plan her escape and be with her real parents again?

'Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.'(opening line)

'..."The  mice have a message for you... The message is this. Don't go through the door." He paused. "Does that mean anything to you?"(16)

'Coraline wondered why so few of the adults she had met made any sense. She sometimes wondered who they thought they were talking to.'(20)

'She also wondered whether cats could all talk where she come from and just chose not to, or whether they could only talk when they were here---wherever here was.'(38)

'You ask your mother to make you a big old mug of hot chocolate and then give you a great big old hug. There's nothing like hot chocolate and a hug for making the nightmares go away.'(55)

'The cat wrinkled its nose and managed to look unimpressed. "Calling cats," it confided, "tends to be a rather overrated activity. Might as well call a whirlwind.'(65)

'She put the stone into the pocket of her jeans, and it was as if her head had cleared a little. As if she had come out of some sort of a fog.'(69)

'I'm an explorer, thought Coraline to herself. And I need all the ways out of here that I can get. So I shall keep walking.
The world she was walking through was a pale nothingness, like a blank sheet of paper or an enormous, empty white room. It had no temperature, no smell, no texture, and no taste. '(73)

'The cat dropped the rat between its two front paws. "There are those," it said with a sigh, in tones as smooth as oiled silk, "who have suggested that the tendency of a cat to play with its prey is a merciful one---after all, it permits the occasional funny little running snack to escape, from time to time. How often does your dinner get to escape?"'(76)

'The other mother smiled. "Mirrors," she said, " are never to be trusted. Now, what game shall we play?"(77)

'Coraline sighed. "You really don't understand, do you?" she said. "I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. what kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn't mean anything, What then?"'(120)

First Harper Trophy edition, 2003
162 pages
Book owned