Coraline is among my favorite books ever read. For one thing, it's the first book written by Neil Gaiman that I've read and is the one that started me into reading a lot more. Secondly, this story my kind of story. 
 If I could sum up the entire book with one word I'd use - 
 creepy 
 . This is the second time that I've read Coraline all the way through from the beginning to the end and it is still as amazing and as frightening as the first time I've experienced it. Perhaps even more frightening this time around now that I have a daughter of my own and couldn't imagine her going through what Coraline had to. But it was for that reason that it made reading this creepy story so exciting. It's because Coraline was just an ordinary girl, who was a bit small for her age. She's a charming, curious, intelligent and brave little girl who gets herself into a scary predicament and needs to gather up all her courage to defeat the odds set against her. 
 Not only is Coraline's character really great, the other characters in this story are just as interesting. I especially loved the cat and found a lot of his lines very memorable. The eccentric neighbors are also quite unique. And finally the other mother is just plain creepy. I've known people who seem like they could kill you with their niceness, and have wondered if perhaps they are secretly "an other mother". There is not a character in this novel I didn't like reading about. 
 The atmosphere was also something else that added to the creepiness. Neil Gaiman sure knows how to paint a picture with words that will linger in your memory long after you've read them. One of the more notable of these things, yet such a simple thing, are the black button eyes. Who knew that black buttons could be so creepy! Coraline is filled with nice little touches of creepiness like this one. I loved it! 
 In the end, Coraline is really a children's book, but it's so unique and scary that I have no doubt that even an adult would love it. Take myself for example. I believe parents with children would find this book a lot more frightening than even the children themselves. So if you're looking for a nice, short book to read about a girl who is cast into a frightening adventure, then look no further.