Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

Coraline tells the story of a girl who moves home with her parents, over the summer holidays. Her parents work at home, but they don't have a lot of time for her, preferring that she leave them be and go explore on her own. She meets the neighbours, who insist on calling her ‘Caroline’. And she finds a locked door in her apartment!

The door seems to go nowhere, but somehow it does in fact lead to the 'other' apartment, where Coraline meets the ‘other’ neighbours and her ‘other’ mother and father. Just like her real parents, but with buttons for eyes! They have been waiting for her, and it seems like this whole world is set up just for Coraline!

She could stay there forever, but of course, she would have to have buttons sewn into her eyes... suddenly the fun new world is sinister and having everything you ever dreamed of becomes a nightmare…

The novel was originally published in 2002 and the graphic novel was released in 2008. The novel is great, but the graphic novel is even better!

Jo

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