Coraline has moved with her parents into a new home, a flat occupying one quarter of an old house and Coraline is quite bored since she has no nearby friends her own age. She tries to expand her exploratory boundaries but has been instructed to venture no further than the grounds immediately surrounding their home so she therefore intensifies her investigation of the house.
The first of the two other units house is occupied by someone Coraline decides is a crazy old man after he informs her he is training a mouse circus. The third unit is occupied by the elderly Misses Spink and Forcible and while Coraline finds these ladies somehow intriguing they do not meet up to her full approval. They do not seem listening well enough to her name and they blissfully persist in calling her, Caroline.
This characteristic of the neighbors seems ironic. While the name Coraline is uncommon, with a little practice one can make the adjustment quite well. However this misnaming actually plays an important part of the story. It adds to the frustration that Coraline is experiencing and leads her to continue exploring the house until she enters the fourth unit after being told not to even open the connecting door. It is fortunate for Coraline that the occupants of the third unit even with their annoying habit of misnaming her have nevertheless provided with something that will ultimately enable Coraline to save herself, her parents and to assist three other children.
Coraline’s investigative nature leads to very dangerous adventures when she discovers an alternative world within that fourth unit and a very evil presence known as the “other mother” who tries to destroy Coraline and her parents as they exist. While Coraline seems initially to be a spoiled young girl she proves herself as a brave, very intelligent and kind-hearted heroine. By the end of this story Coraline is one of the most likeable characters in recent books and this reader very much recommends this book.
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