August 4, 2003

When a girl moves into an old house, she finds a door leading to a world that eerily mimics her own, but with sinister differences. "An electrifyingly creepy tale likely to haunt young readers for many moons," wrote PW
in a boxed review. Ages 8-up.

Starred review from January 15, 2009
Master fantasist Gaiman's creepy and wonderful 2002 all-ages novel "Coraline" won Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards. Acclaimed illustrator Russellwho previously collaborated with Gaiman on the beautiful "Ramadan" issue of "Sandman", the Eisner Award-winning "Death" from "Sandman: Endless Nights", and a superb comics version of Gaiman's prose story "Murder Mysteries"here presents an excellent graphic novel adaptation of Coraline's story. When she and her parents move into an old house, the imaginative, adventurous, precocious, and neglected young Coraline discovers a door that leads only to a brick wall. But when she opens the door one night, the wall has disappeared. When she goes through, Coraline finds a home just like her own, only better, where her other mother and father (who look like the real ones, except for the big black buttons they have for eyes) want her to stay forever. When Coraline decides against this, her other mother kidnaps her real parents, and Coraline must brave unknown dangers to save them. Russell appropriately mutes the bright colors he's known for and faithfully preserves much of Gaiman's text and his tone of understated horror (and humor). Because a "Coraline" film is scheduled for early 2009, expect much interest. Highly recommended.S.R.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2008
Gr 6-8-This adaptation of Neil Gaimans novel (HarperCollins, 2002) reads as though it were intended for the graphic novel format in the first place. Insatiably curious Coraline is an explorer dedicated to discovering everything she can about the area around her familys new home. When she comes upon a door in their flat that seems to go nowhere, enters an alternate world that at first is full of interesting things and delicious foodseverything that she has longed for. However, the dangerous creature therecalled the other mother intends to keep her forever. After Coralines parents are kidnapped into the other world, she sets off on a mission to rescue them. Russells illustrations suit the tone of the story perfectly, from the horrific black button eyes of the people in the other world to Coralines very telling facial expressions. The style is realistic, which makes the moments when the other world loses its solidity even more eerie. The pacing never lags, and Coralines transformation into a girl who understands that having everything you want is the least interesting thing of all is natural. For readers who enjoyed the novel, Coraline is sure to complement their reading experience. Those who come to the book first as a graphic novel will be just as captivated."Alana Abbott, James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford, CT"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2008
Russell, a 35-year veteran of comics and frequent collaborator with Gaiman, offers an adaptation of Gaimans 2002 novel Coraline (illustrated by Dave McKean), a tale of childhood nightmares. As in the original story, Coraline wanders around her new house and discovers a door leading into a mirror place, where she finds her button-eyed other mother, who is determined to secure Coralines love one way or another. This version is a virtuoso adaptation, streamlining passages that function best in prose and visually highlighting parts that benefit most from the graphic form. A master of fantastical landscapes, Russell sharpens the realism of his imagery, preserving the humanity of the characters and heightening horror, even as Gaimans concise storytelling ratchets up the eeriness. The adaptation loses none of Coralines original character; shes clever, resourceful, intrepid, and highly determined when it comes to doing what must be done. Comics fans will delight in this version, and readers familiar with the previous book will greatly appreciate the opportunity to explore the story in a successful new way.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2002
Gr. 5-8. Coraline has recently moved with her preoccupied parents into a flat in an old house. The neighbors above and below are odd but friendly: Mr. Bobo trains mice; elderly Misses Spink and Forcible serve her tea and tell her fortune. No one lives in the flat next door. But Coraline knows better, and one evening she discovers what's there: a tantalizing alternate world, filled with toys and food (unlike any of the boring stuff she has at home) and weird-- though wonderfully attentive--parents, who happen to have black button eyes sewn on with dark thread. Although her "other parents" beg her to stay, she decides to leave, but by doing so Coraline sets in motion a host of nightmarish events that she must remedy alone. Gaiman, well known for his compelling adult horror novels (see "The Booklist Interview," opposite), seems less sure of himself with a younger age group. His "nowhere wonderland" setting (think Alice on acid) is magical, deliciously eerie, and well captured in the text and in McKean's loose, angular sketches. But the goings-on are murky enough to puzzle some kids and certainly creepy enough to cause a few nightmares (ignore the publisher's suggestion that this is suitable for eight-year-olds). What's more, Coraline is no naive Alice. She's a bundle of odd contradictions that never seem to gel--confident, outspoken, self-sufficient one moment; a whiny child the next. Gaiman's construct offers a chilling and empowering view of children, to be sure, but young readers are likely to miss such subtleties as the clever allusions to classic horror movies and the references to the original dark tales by the Brothers Grimm. Gaiman has written an often-compelling horror novel, but, as with so many adult authors who attempt to reach young readers, his grasp of his audience is less sure than his command of his material.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)

Starred review from June 24, 2002
British novelist Gaiman (American Gods; Stardust) and his long-time accomplice McKean (collaborators on a number of Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels as well as The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish) spin an electrifyingly creepy tale likely to haunt young readers for many moons.After Coraline and her parents move into an old house, Coraline asks her mother about a mysterious locked door. Her mother unlocks it to reveal that it leads nowhere: "When they turned the house into flats, they simply bricked it up," her mother explains. But something about the door attracts the girl, and when she later unlocks it herself, the bricks have disappeared. Through the door, she travels a dark corridor (which smells "like something very old and very slow") into a world that eerily mimics her own, but with sinister differences. "I'm your other mother," announces a woman who looks like Coraline's mother, except "her eyes were big black buttons." Coraline eventually makes it back to her real home only to find that her parents are missing—they're trapped in the shadowy other world, of course, and it's up to their scrappy daughter to save them. Gaiman twines his taut tale with a menacing tone and crisp prose fraught with memorable imagery ("Her other mother's hand scuttled off Coraline's shoulder like a frightened spider"), yet keeps the narrative just this side of terrifying. The imagery adds layers of psychological complexity (the button eyes of the characters in the other world vs. the heroine's increasing ability to distinguish between what is real and what is not; elements of Coraline's dreams that inform her waking decisions). McKean's scratchy, angular drawings, reminiscent of Victorian etchings, add an ominous edge that helps ensure this book will be a real bedtime-buster. Ages 8-up.

Starred review from August 5, 2002
Bestselling horror/fantasy author Gaiman (a Brit now living in the States) masterfully brings to life his first book for children, a spine-tingling adventure pitting a curious girl against some unusual perils. Effortlessly shifting between a low, quiet tone (where he sometimes sounds like Alan Rickman) to a higher-pitched, almost chipper one, Gaiman becomes young Coraline, her amusingly distracted parents, the crazy man who lives upstairs (with a Russian accent) and all the other colorful characters in his tale. When young Coraline decides to go exploring, she travels through a mysterious door in her family's flat and winds up in a spooky parallel version of her life, replete with a set of strange "other" parents as well as alternative incarnations of her neighbors. Before she can get back to her real home, she must find the lost souls of some ghost children, outwit the wicked "other" mother and find her true family. Gaiman's swift pacing and lighthearted manner bring out the humorous notes in the story and keep things from getting too chilling for young listeners. Original, eerie, techno-sounding music by the Gothic Archies helps set the scene. July 2002 HarperCollins hardcover.
Ages 8-up.

January 1, 2003
Coraline passes through a door in the drawing room of her new home to a very similar house with an "other mother" and an "other father." What started out as a world set slightly askew turns nightmarish as Coraline joins the creepy other mother in a game of hide-and-seek for her real parents--winner take all. The danger and the heroine are convincing; the whirlwind denouement will leave readers bemused but elated and slightly breathless.

(Copyright 2003 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from August 1, 2002
Gr 6-8-When Coraline and her parents move into a new house, she notices a mysterious, closed-off door. It originally went to another part of the house, which her family does not own. Some rather eccentric neighbors call her Caroline and seem not to understand her very well, yet they have information for her that will later prove vital. Bored, she investigates the door, which takes her into an alternate reality. There she meets her "other" mother and father. They are very nice to her, which pleases Coraline but also makes her a little suspicious. Her neighbors are in this other world, and they are the same, yet somehow different. When Coraline gets nervous and returns home, her parents are gone. With the help of a talking cat, she figures out that they are being held prisoner by her other parents, as are the souls of some long-lost children. Coraline's plan to rescue them involves, among other things, making a risky bargain with her other mother whose true nature is beginning to show. The rest of the story is a suspense-filled roller coaster, and the horror is all the more frightening for being slightly understated. A droll humor is present in some of the scenes, and the writing is simple yet laden with foreboding. The story is odd, strange, even slightly bizarre, but kids will hang on every word. Coraline is a character with whom they will surely identify, and they will love being frightened out of their shoes. This is just right for all those requests for a scary book.-Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC

Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.