Coraline by Neil Gaiman

CoralineI don't often read children's books these days and when I do, it tends to be an old favorite. However, on occasion, when the mood strikes me and the moon is just so, I'll re-discover myself as a kid again and read a "newer" children's book afresh. "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman struck a chord in me for a few reasons, mostly due to the story and partially due to my own strange thoughts and observations of life. The book itself seems to be targeted for 6th or 7th graders, but like many other books for the same age, has elements that most anyone with a passion for good stories can enjoy.

The heroine of the story, Coraline, a young girl bored by her life at home with her well-meaning, but busy parents, has a hard time entertaining herself on rainy days. Her dad, in ploys I'm sure most parents would appreciate, comes up with simple ideas to keep Coraline occupied with meaningless tasks such as making a list of everything that is blue in their apartment. Sometimes she visits her neighbors, but they are aging and more than a little strange and not always the best company for a little girl. However, they are the first to give her clues of the ominous fate that awaits her.

One day, she triumphantly opens a lock and comes into an apartment identical to her own (think parallel world here and you will definitely be on the right track) and comes face to face with her "other mother".  The fidgety, whiter and taller version of her real mother lures Coraline in with a nicely-cooked meal. Everything at first seems to be a little better than in her real world and Coraline is enchanted by the strangeness around her. The creepiness really starts and I must write SPOILER ALERT in case you are waiting to be enticed by the book yourself when her "other parents" break the news to her- they want to replace her eyes with buttons. The journey gets weirder from there on out and I'll leave you to wonder how/if Coraline ever makes it back to her "real" parents.

The book “parallels” ideas of parallel universes and taps into many children’s unspoken wishes that they could have better or ‘real parents”. As an adult, I think many people forget how active children’s imaginations really are, and what they witness as fact, may in fact be just a fantasy of the “other mother”. The idea of a separate reality appeals to most children and a lot of adults as well.