Coraline

**Summary/Review**
Coraline Jones and her family move into an old house that has been separated into four flats. Coraline has neighbors who are characters to say the least. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible are older women who have retired from the stage and Mr. Bobo who is trainging his mouse circus! One day, Coraline was bored so her father suggested that she count the doors, windows, and everything blue in their flat, so this is exactly what Coraline did. There were 153 of everything that was blue, 21 windows, and 14 doors but only 13 open and close. Coraline was very eager to find out what was behind the fourteenth door that was locked, so she went and asked her mother. Coraline's mother got the key to the door and showed Coraline that the door just led to a brick wall.Coraline, being the explorer that she was, didn't want to sit around at home and be bored so as her mother was at the store she went and got the key to the locked door. This time when Coraline unlocked the door and opened it, the door opened up into darkness. Soon, Coraline is in her ideal world, she is not neglected by her parents, she has a lot of toys, and the food is delicious! Coraline soon comes to realize that her dream world isn't all she thought it was going to be. Her Other Mother and Other Father want Coraline to come and live with them so that they can be a "happy" family. Coraline's Other Mother realizes that she cannot convince Coraline to stay and live with her, so she tries to find ways to trick Coraline into staying in their home. The Other parents want to give Coraline her own set of black button eyes, but Coraline isn't so sure, so when Coraline's real parents go missing she knows she has to help save them. Coraline soon realizes that she is not only needed to help her parents, but the other souls that have been taken away by her Other Mother, so Coraline sets out to be brave and explore her options to defeat her Other Mother. In the end, Coraline uses the help of the black cat and her bravery to overcome the obstacles her Other Mother puts before her and she is soon reunited with her parents, who she has missed very much!



**Author Bio**
Neil Gaiman was originally from England and now lives in the United States. Gaiman found his love of books at a young age and soon started his career as a journalist in England. Neil Gaiman soon started writing biographies, which led to his works crossing over many genres of literature. Gaiman is know as a post-modern writer who creates works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama. He is an author who isn't afraid to step outside of genres and try new things. Neil has a wide variety of works that can be enjoyed by all people of many different ages.

**Other Children's Literature**
'The Sandman: Book of Dreams' (1989); ‘The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish’ (1997); 'Stardust' (1998); 'Coraline' (2002); 'The Wolves in the Walls’ (2003), illustrated by Dave McKean; 'Mirror Mask:Children's Edition' (2005); ‘M is for Magic’ (2007); ‘Interworld’ (2007), co-authored with Michael Reaves; 'The Graveyard Book' (2008); 'Odd and the Frost Giants’ (2008); 'The Dangerous Alphabet’ (2008); The Greenaway-shortlisted ‘Crazy Hair’ (2009), illustrated by Dave McKean; ‘illustrated by Gris Grimly; ‘Blueberry Girl’ (2009); 'The Absolute Death' (2009); 'A Walking Tour of the Shambles' (2009); and ‘Instructions’ (2010), illustrated by Charles Vess. illustrated by Dave McKean; ''Stories: All New Tales' (2011), Comic books.

**Awards**
1991 World Fantasy Award for short fiction for the //Sandman// issue, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" 1991-1993 //Comics Buyer's Guide// Award for Favorite Writer 1997–2000 //Comics Buyer's Guide// Award for Favorite Writer nominations 1991 Favourite Comic Book Story for //The Sandman// 1994 Favourite Comic Book Story for //The Sandman// 1997 Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Defender of Liberty award 1991 Locus and World Fantasy Awards nomination for //Good Omens// 1999 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel nomination for //Stardust// 1999 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature for the illustrated version of //Stardust// 2000 Hugo Award for Best Related Book nomination for //The Sandman: The Dream Hunters// 2000 Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative for //The Sandman: The Dream Hunters// 2001 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel for //American Gods// 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novel for //American Gods// 2002 Nebula Award for Best Novel for //American Gods// 2002 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel for //American Gods// 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella for //Coraline// 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella for //Coraline// 2003 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book for //Coraline// 2003 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers for //Coraline// 2004 Hugo Award for the story //A Study in Emerald// 2004 Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative for //The Sandman: Endless Nights// 2004 Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Scenario for //The Sandman: Season of Mists// 2005 The William Shatner Golden Groundhog Award for Best Underground Movie nomination for //MirrorMask// The other nominated films were //Green Street Hooligans//, //Nine Lives//,//Up for Grabs// and //Opie Gets Laid// 2005 Quill Book Award for Graphic Novels for //Marvel 1602// 2006 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature for //Anansi Boys// 2006 The British Fantasy Awards for Best Novel for //Anansi Boys// 2006 Locus Fantasy Awards for //Anansi Boys//. The book was also nominated for a Hugo Award, but Gaiman asked for it to be withdrawn from the list of nominations, stating that hewanted to give other writers a chance, and it was really more fantasy than science fiction Gaiman has won 19 Eisner Awards for his comics work. 1990-1994 Squiddy Award for Best Writer and was named Best Writer of the 1990s in the Squiddy Awards for the decade. 2007 Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award 2007 Comic-Con Icon award presented with the at the Scream Awards 2009 Newbery Medal for //The Graveyard Book// 2009 Audies: Children's 8–12 and Audiobook of the year for the audio version of //The Graveyard Book// 2009 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel shortlist for //The Graveyard Book// 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novel for //The Graveyard Book// presented at the 2009 Worldcon in Montreal where he was also the Professional Guest of Honor. 2009 The Booktrust Teenage Prize for //The Graveyard Book// 2010 Gaiman was selected as the Honorary Chair of National Library Week by the American Library Association 2010 Carnegie Medal in Literature for //The Graveyard Book//. 2010 Locus Award for Best Short for //An Invocation of Incuriosity//, published in //Songs of the Dying Earth//

**Historical Context**
In 2002 the book was published and sono led to the creation of the film version of "Coraline".

**Major Themes**
Family relationships, childhood exploration, helping others, knowing right from wrong.

**Citations**
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