Neil Gaiman is a fascinating writer who brings a breath of fresh air into the realm of fantasy. Books like Neverwhere and The Anansi Boys weave fantasy stories around humorously portrayed adult characters who live (at least some of the time) in the ordinary world. His novel Coraline is actually about a teen age girl, and has some of the trappings of a fantasy or ghost story.
Coraline is bored, and discovers the door that should lead into a brick wall now leads into the mirror of her house, where odd versions of her mother and father greet her. She realises that all is not well, and has to surmount a number of obstacles in order to rescue her real mother and father. Gaiman offers lots of thought provoking images and ideas: while this can be read in an hour, I felt like reading it again on the spot.
Unlike a lot of “sword and sorcery” fantasy this book is very much in praise of the real world, and values like bravery, affection between family members, and caring for others. Unlike many teenage books produced recently, Coraline’s parents are caring and sympathetically drawn.
The original novel Coraline has also been realised as a stop-motion animated film. This graphical novel does not use the images from the film, and retains all the original details of the novel that were altered in the film.
It will certainly not be to everyone’s taste, but would suit teenage (and older) readers.
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