The Annual Back to School Column: Neil Gaiman’s Coraline

Having courage to confront your fears becomes a central theme. In conversation with the cat, Coraline recounts a past exploration with her dad in which they disturbed a nest of bees. Her father remained behind to attract the bees so that Coraline could escape the buzzing wrath. When he catches up to her, he realizes he lost his glasses. He returns the next day to retrieve them. Just standing there allowing himself to be stung was not bravery, Coraline informs the cat, but returning was: "It wasn't brave because he wasn't scared: it was the only thing he could do. But going back again to get his glasses when he knew the wasps were there, when he was really scared. That was brave." (Is it just coincidence that in a few days Coraline must go back to school?) Coraline's sight, the way she interprets the world, becomes clearer and clearer, unlike the vision bestowed upon those with button eyes. With her bee lecture, Coraline returns to the other world, where, she is convinced, her parents are trapped. The spinsters loan her a lucky charm, a rock with a hole drilled in the center. With this talisman she begins her quest.

On Coraline's return trip, the other mother steals Coraline's key to the fourteenth door, trapping her in this other universe. Amid her adventures, Coraline discovers the empty shells of three children trapped behind a mirror. She proposes a challenge to her other mother. If Coraline finds the children's stolen souls and finds her parents (and she has no doubt she will succeed, as she's an excellent explorer), she can return home. If she fails, she agrees to stay forever.

This peek into the fantastic is ripe with imaginary horrors and delights: magic mirrors and glass, talking animals, hands crawling along the floor and overlapping worlds. And although the playful language is appropriate for its audience, grade three and above, it also includes the occasional vocabulary expanding word (how many third graders are familiar with ululation?) and subtle metaphors to keep parents engaged, too. The supporting cast, the neighbors, are charming, their eccentricities underscoring the moments of magic. Coraline's parents are carefully conceived; they are preoccupied with their work, but their concern for their daughter manifests itself in respect and in the everyday gestures of love. No, Coraline cannot buy the neon green gloves she covets, but she can eat a frozen pizza

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