Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre, Fairytale, Mystery
Rating: 7
Teach-ability: 7
Teachable Aspects: Making connections, fairy tales, plot

This book, described on the front cover as frightening was my choice as my Halloween read. The book is about a young girl named Coraline, who lives at a flat with two sets of very eccentric neighbors and her parents, who are very uninteresting. Coraline leads an uninteresting life, but likes to explore so when she discovers a door in her flat that leads to the perfect version of her life, Coraline should be excited about the discovery...but she's not. Soon after discovering this alternate land Coraline's world gets turned upside-down and she must put her world back in order.

Although I didn't quite find this book as frightening as it was first described, I really enjoyed reading the tale. To me, the book read as a contemporary fairytale with strong connections to The Wizard of Oz. I think that this book would work wonderfully in conjunction with The Wizard Of Oz as students could find some wonderful links between the texts.

I really liked the character of Coraline as well. Although I recently described Frankie Landau-Banks as a great, strong lead female character, I am finding now, after reading this text, that I did not like her character as much as I first thought. In retrospect, Frankie seems brass, and unlikeable. Coraline, on the other hand, was courageous and strong but she also had fears and weaknesses, which made her real-life strong female character. I think students would relate to Coraline's drive to put her world back to order, as well as her determination to complete her tasks despite how scared she is.

I think students would like the book. It is definitely for a younger audience, but older students may get something out of the book as well. The story is eerie and creepy but not so scary that the content of the story is lost. Gaiman is concise, and does not embellish his story with unnecessary words. For this reason, there is less fluff which makes it easier to read for some students.

I would recommend this book, especially as a Halloween read, for any reader.