Coraline is tired of the world she lives in.
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Many people get her name wrong (thinking it’s “Caroline”).
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She doesn’t like the “fancy” recipes that her dad tries out (instead preferring just simple, microwavable food).
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She feels like there’s nothing to do (since she’s already read all her books, etc.).
When Coraline stumbles upon the door to a parallel world where her other mother, other father, and other neighbors live, at first she finds that world interesting. However, Coraline later decides that the real world is what she actually prefers.
“I don’t want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn’t mean anything. What then?” (120).
“The other mother could not create. She could only transform, twist, and change” (124).
Coraline escapes, but her other mother traps her real parents as bait for Coraline to return. It takes Coraline true courage to go back and save the people that she cares about. She’s forced to go on the journey alone since the police don’t believe her. But with the help of a talking black cat and a stone with a hole in it that her neighbors lent her, she’s able to succeed. In the end, after everything she’s been through, the thought of the upcoming school year doesn’t scare her like it used to.
“When you’re scared but you still do it anyway, that’s brave” (59).