I first started to read this book a few years back as a read-aloud and did not like it. The sentences were long and had awkward formations, so it was difficult to get the correct feeling across when you didn't know where the sentence was going to end and in what connotation. Having finished it now, while reading it to myself, it wasn't nearly as difficult and I enjoyed it. So that being said, suggest it for reading but don't read it aloud. [I've started to read it a second time to my students, and having read it already, its much easier as a read aloud when I know where to put the inflections. So just a warning, as we should know already, but sometimes forget, always read the book first!]
A young girl, Coraline, moves to Oregon with her parents that are just too busy for her. She discovers a door that leads to her Other Mother who gives her everything she wishes for. But soon, Coraline learns that this is not all its chalked up to be and when her real parents go missing she has to fight to get them back from the spidery clutches of the evil other mother. Its creepy, its adventurous, its spooky in all the right places without being too scary and the movie adaptation is a good counter-point rather than a bad representation.
Interest Level: Grades 5-8 Intended reading level: Grade 5
Genre: Supernatural-fantasy, fiction
Comparable title: The Graveyard Book and other Neil Gaiman titles
Book connections: black buttons, cat and rat dolls, spiders, an antique key, snowglobe
