Book of the Week: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I loved this weird, short, great book since I read it a couple of years ago. It's the story of a girl, Coraline Jones, that moves into a new house and explores an abandoned hallway. After walking down the hallway, she finds a house identical to hers and finds her ''other mother''. The mother is attentive and cooks, unlike her "real mother'', and Coraline wants to stay with her except the "other mother'' isn't quite what she seems.

In this other world with the other mother, the mother has black button eyes, has built everything in the other world, and won't let Coraline leave. Trapped, Coraline finds other children that the other mother has kidnapped . Coraline realizes she has to escape the other mother, fight to get home to her parents , and save the other children with her.

Coraline was a best-seller when it first came out and should be again when the movie version comes out February 6. I chose this book as a discussion book for February 19 for teens, but both tweens and teens should enjoy the book. It's creepy without being too scary and gives great lessons in what makes a family and what it mans to be brave. Coraline is a book that packs a lot of meaning into a few pages.