It is the summer holidays and Coraline is at a loose end. She is extremely bored and can't find anything to keep herself interested during the last week of her holidays. However, after her fortune is told by her mysterious neighbours, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, and her life is said to be in grave danger, Coraline is given something to ponder.
One day, when her parents are out shopping, she finds a secret passageway connecting her house to a warped reality that resembles the real world. The people of this world all look similar to humans but there is one major difference: they have buttons for eyes! Join Coraline as she ventures to get back to her own reality, will she succeed or will she be stuck with the button-eyed creatures for ever? Coraline is a creepy novel that frightened the life out of me. I had to read it in two sittings because I was so utterly spooked. The author, Neil Gaiman, conjured up such amazing pictures in my head. He made it scary in a very succinct manner and still his book tells a fascinating story that is both weird and wonderful at the same time. It keeps you hooked yet I constantly found that I wanted to skip over the REALLY scary parts. Nevertheless, I ploughed on through.
Despite the fact that this book scared me almost to death, I would still rate it five stars out of five because it had such a brilliant atmosphere and it was devised so cleverly. I would recommend it to children 10 + for a truly petrifying read. You have been warned.
Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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