An Appropriately Disturbing Kid's Read


I just finished Coraline by Neil Gaiman and I thought it was an appropriately disturbing children’s book.


I watched the movie this year during the Halloween season and since I really enjoyed it I wanted to read the book. So glad I did! Well worth the hour it took to read it.

For those of you who haven’t read the book or seen the movie the story goes something like this: Coraline is a little girl who loves to explore and loves adventure. Her family has recently moved into a large old house that they share with other tenants. Upstairs in the attic lives an old man who used to belong to a circus and is now attempting to train his pet mice to dance and sing. Downstairs in the basement lives two actresses, well past their prime, who yearn for the old days. The second half of the main house remains mysteriously empty.

One day after being cooped up too long, due to rain, and driving her parents mad, as children do, she discovers that the small door in the living room, which used to open onto a brick wall, now reveals a long corridor. The corridor leads to a home. This home is an exact replica to the home she just left and is occupied by her “other” parents, identical to her own parents save the black buttons sewn on their faces in lieu of eyes! If I were a kid that would freak me out, hell as an adult it does!! Alternate worlds are on my list of freakiness already soooo…

Bottom line: When I have kids they will be reading this book . . . around Halloween for maximum effect.

And onto the next . . . I am currently reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.

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