The Turning by Gillian Chan

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Kids Can Press, Ltd. (January 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553375769
• ISBN-13: 978-1553375760
• List Price: $6.95
• I finished this book on July 20

So, okay. I'm a librarian. I successfully find books for high school students to read on a regular basis. I work my ass off at it. Usually I do pretty good. But there's one person who always ignores my suggestions, doesn't read what I get for him or says things like "Do you even know me?" when I try to give him something. That's my pain in the bottom boyfriend. Anyway, when school ended I brought home books for me to read over the summer and he said "get some for me too" so I did (and I looked something like this). Well he read a couple and this is one that he read. It was short, so I read it too.
Here's the rub: Ben is mad. His mom died and he's moved to England (from Canada) with his heretofore absentee father Lars (awesome name, I know). Anyway, our Ben acts pretty much like he's wearing saggy diapers that leak throughout the whole book. He is deliberately terse, rude and somehow gets away with cursing out his father on a regular basis. Now you know I love salty language, but even that isn't really saving this book for me. Oh, right, the plot: there's a Green Man called Wyliff who is (rather deviously) trying to get Ben's help to best this big bad fairy who's pissing off the world (and yeah, I know "big bad fairy" sounds like an oxymoron). Anyway, tree man, plus a little guy who reminds me of a surly David the Gnome (10 points for figuring out how to reference that shit!) try to save the day. Ben makes the brilliant decision not to tell his dad/ask for help even though Lars is a folklore expert and would definitely be able to help him.
The thing is, it's not a horrible book. I didn't like the main character but it doesn't mean that it wasn't a perfectly acceptable story for the kind of reader who wants to read every fantasy ever. My boyfriend's review is: It's like OK cake. Meaning, you're never mad that you're eating cake, even if the cake wasn't that good. But in the back of your mind, you wish it was better. So, that's the story with this one. Read at your own risk.
Soundtrack: Feed the Tree by Belly. Because I love 90's alterna-rock and trees are hungry too.

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

• Hardcover: 832 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (December 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385730306
• ISBN-13: 978-0385730303
• List Price: $17.99
• I finished this book on Jan. 14

You may remember that I read the others in this series and have been eagerly awaiting this book for some time now. Also, let me say that these book have the coolest titles and covers. Double extra points and a cherry on top for Ms. Bray. To catch up, read my reviews of the other two books: here and here.
So: in the last book our heroine, Gemma, bound the magic of the realms to herself and promised to make an allegiance with the other forest folk. Let me stop here and tell you a story: the other night by b/f and I went grocery shopping and while I was picking out lean cuisines he threw a frozen pumpkin pie in the cart. Me: "What's that for?" Him: "Our faces." What he really meant was we were going to cook a whole pie, not offer any to our pals, and hoard it and eat it like the dirty pie sluts we are. Selfish pie. Cause you know if you start offering it out then it's gone before you know it and then...no pie. Do you see where I'm going with this? That's right, Gem begins to feel less and less like sharing. Other characters in this book work hard to gain Gemma's good graces by being completely untrustworthy. Not to mention that out of all the nogoodnicks to choose from Gemma picks the worst (Circe, the big bad from the previous book who is now imprisoned) to seek help from and she gives her power. Boo! Another boo? One of my favorite characters totally bites it. Balls. Also: things don't necessarily go the way you think they will in the end, but either way it's satisfying.
On the plus side: there is kissing with Kartik (mmm, forbidden Indian...nutritious and delicious.) Also, the girls seek to create lives for themselves outside of the narrow roles that their culture expects them to play. I love this. Someone becomes an actor. Oh! And someone comes out of the wardrobe (worst gay related - historical fiction joke ever? the world may never know). Hint: it might be someone who is very beautiful and who you thought only loved herself. So, with making one of the characters gay Ms. Bray has successfully covered all teen "problem novel" issues plus written a fantastic historical fiction/fantasy series that is not only deep and beautiful but it looks great on a shelf. Well done. I say: seal of approval to you!
p.s. this is my 100th book review on this site. thanks for reading!

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Listening Library (Audio); Unabridged edition (August 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307282279
• ISBN-13: 978-0307282279
• List Price: $50.00
• I finished listening to this audio book on Dec. 22

I always think it's funny when you listen to a book on tape read by a woman and they do the voices. Lynn Redgrave read this and she was amazing, her voices and accents were outstanding. However, many times, when women try to do men they sound like old men because the woman does the voice gruffly to distinguish it from her own. The reason I'm telling you this is because I imaged Mo to be much older than Brendan Frasier who will play him in the movie. You can see the trailer here.
Okay, so, Mo is a bookbinder and he has a secret: he can read things out of books. This is fucking awesome except he can't necessarily control the things he reads out. For example: 9 years ago Mo was reading his wife a story and he accidentally read out two really bad guys, one sort of good guy and read his wife into the story. Balls. I hate it when that happens. Anyway, this is all news to Meggie, his daughter, until the sort of good guy, Dustfinger, shows up and starts a kerfuffle. Turns out, the big bad, Capricorn, has an even bigger bad he wants Mo to read out (not to mention treasure and wenches) of his story while Dustfinger desperately wants to be read back in.
Then, the good guys do lots of stupid things, like get themselves caught, get themselves put into nets and get all their books burned. Double balls. Eventually, they come up with some pretty lame plans to save the day. I don't mean to make fun, it's just this: if I were ever caught by the bad guy I would be very docile and agreeable. Seriously, I feel like things work better if you are not so obviously trying to escape. Maybe play along. People in books never do that, especially pre-teen girls. Give me a break, I would be baking Capricorn and his creepy mother cookies and offering to do their laundry so as not to get myself kilt.
Oh! Dustfinger has a marten with horns. That's this kind of marten, and not Marten Broadcloak, in case you were wondering. P.S. I want to snuggle with a marten. Additionally: my new puppy's middle name is Marten. His first name is Viggo (as in the Carpatian)
So, one of the things I liked about this book was the complete reverence the characters had for books. It was funny to read this and the Thirteenth Tale at the same time because they were both bibliophile books.
I am excited about this movie, but I am worried that it will be cheesy and I can tell from the trailer that lots of made up extra stuff goes down. Either way, I have a crush on Paul Bettany and I hope to see lots of him breathing fire. I also have a crush on Helen Mirren, so that should be good too.
Anywho: this is part of a trilogy, and you can read more about it here. I shall be reading the second book at some point, that's a promise. In case you were wondering, if I could read things out of books I would read out Oy from the Dark Tower series. I would want to read out Edward from the Twilight Saga, or Roarke, from the ...In Death series, but the truth is: they wouldn't be into me so that would be a bummer. I like to think that Oy and I could have fun though. Oy! Un!

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

• Paperback: 1040 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (January 2, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0747590052
• ISBN-13: 978-0747590057
• List Price: $17.99
• I finished this book on Oct. 3

Okay, my lovelies. First off: this book took me forever to read. For-ev-er! (name that movie). That is no indicator of quality, mind you, it's more due to it being very long, very British and me trying to adjust to my new work schedule. I promise I will be reading much more frequently, starting...now. p.s. this is the first book I've read for the R.I.P. Challenge.
Anywho: the story. Imagine an alternate version of 19th century Britain in which there is a long history of magic lost, a shady King and two emerging practitioners of magic. Mr. Norrell is set about reviving English Magic, which he does by stamping out any other magicians in the area and buying all the books of magic so that no one else may read them. He's cranky Wilfred Brimley, he's that guy at the restaurant that eats alone and complains that his soup is too cold, he's that creepy uncle that you don't want to get stuck in conversation with. Then there's Jonathan Strange, who becomes Norrell's pupil. Strange is arrogant, young and a quick study of magic. They have an increasingly strained relationship as Strange becomes more independent and skilled. Norrell asks a fairy for help who then causes a wicked ruckus amongst pretty much all involved. Will Scooby and the Gang figure out how to break the enchantment in time?
Ms. Clarke loves footnotes. She is dating them and I have heard that the relationship is growing quite serious. These footnotes are nothing like the brief snippets in Anansi Boys. These are serious, not to be effed with footnotes. They will school you in a fight. I quite enjoyed said footnotes, except more than once I would get all sidetracked thinking about what I just read in it and forget about the actual story. Either way, it was neat. And weird.
Also, for fun, Lord Byron is a character. And briefly Mary Shelley. And, they talk about how the weather in the year 1816 was very strange and the summer was very cold. Also, Frankenstein is one of the books I will be reading for the challenge. For that reason (and that it is pure awesomeness) I am giving you a booknerd exclusive: a video. I swear it's pertinent. Or not. Enjoy!

The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz; New Ed edition (March 14, 2002)
• ISBN-10: 1857983424
• ISBN-13: 978-1857983425
• List Price: $15.99
• I finished this book on August 29

Okay, I bought this book for three reasons. Now, mind you, they are not particularly good reasons, but here they are: because I had a gift card, because the cover reminded me of the cover of Speak, which I liked, and because the blurb on the back said the fairy seduces the boy. So, I'm all: Seduced? I'm in!
But let me just tell you: this shit is weird. I'm all: Baroo? Even until tonight, when I only had a little bit left of the book, I never felt like I knew what was going on. Now that it's over, and I've let it marinade a bit, I have decided what happened. Weirdness, that's what. But not entirely unpalatable weirdness.
Okay, here goes: It's 1960's England and Sam, Terry and Clive are friends. Get ready for my favorite line the the book: "But power in this group, true power, rested in the hands of the one who had the stamina to say "Fuck off" more times and more vigorously than the next man." Squee! I love cursing! Anyway: so they are friends and then they meet Alice and they all love her and oh by the way, Sam sees the Tooth Fairy, they maybe kill a dude and someone looses a body part (more than one, actually). Also: sexing the Tooth Fairy is weird. I would say this book is one half coming of age tale, one half weird fantasy and two thirds LSD trip. And, yes, I know that those things do not add up but that seems to be fitting for this book.
The prose is good, everything is interesting and strangely dark and beautiful. There is a great sense of foreboding throughout which adds a lot without saying much. Very mysterious. I'm seriously not sure how I feel about this at all. My thumb is wavering in the middle. I'm pretty sure I liked it, but...seriously, wtf? Holy cats, I wish someone else would read it and talk to me about it. That is your mission, if you choose to accept it....

Stardust: film review

• Based on the book Stardust by Neil Gaiman
  
• Directed by Matthew Vaughn
• Written by Neil Gaiman and Jane Goldman
• Paramount Pictures (2007)
• PG-13
• 128 Minutes
• I saw this movie on August 11

Okay, my lovelies. As I mentioned I was thinking about starting to review movies I saw based on books I have read. So, here goes.
As you may remember, I reviewed Stardust here, and gave it the esteemed bee Seal of Approval.
First off: visuals. This movie was extremely good looking. Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Charlie Cox. Remember how I said I hoped Danes looked like she did in Polish Wedding? She did, but better. Not to mention Mark Strong, who plays Septimus (I like the bad boys, sue me). All the settings are very cool, and the magic is represented by sort of jets of light. Awesome. Also, when the star (Danes) shines the effect is very cool. Oh, and the flying pirate ship helmed by Robert DeNiro (do you think his friends call him Bobby?) was well done and DeNiro was funny if a little Baron Munchausen.
Second: the adaptation. Now, when I watch a movie based on a book I loved I try to look at it separately as it's own work rather than tirelessly comparing. The story in the film is changed somewhat from the book, but I thought the changes brought some interesting ideas and very cool action. The narrator of the movie is Ian McKellen (who I sort of wish was my grandfather) and to be honest, I could have used a little more of him. Gaiman's narration in the book was witty, smart and incredibly sharp. I would have liked to hear a little more of that.
Overall, I really liked it. I laughed and smiled and got a little mushy. Definite warm fuzzies. For more info about the film go here. For some reviews go try Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. Also, I highly recommend Gaiman's blog. He has talked a lot about the adaptation and various other extremely interesting things. You have to love a man whose nickname is Scary Trousers. Also, we have the animated adaptation of Coraline to look forward to sometime in 2008.
So, that's it for our first movie review! Just another service brought to you by your friendly local booknerd!

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451526961
• ISBN-13: 978-0451526960
• List Price: $4.95
• I finished this book on June 21

Hehe. This makes me chuckle. It's one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. I couldn't find a good cover image (the book I have has a pattern of a fairy and dude with a donkey head. it's very 70's) so I ganked this image from somewhere. I dig it because Titania has Farrah Fawcett hair. I totally wish my hair floated around me like that, though I'm sure it would get cumbersome after a while.
Okay, so this is the last book of the challenge, and I've finished it on the last day, which is, as I mentioned: my birthday. And this play is a little birthday treat. I had to read it by myself though: I tried to get my boyfriend to read this out loud with me, but he wouldn't do it (lame!). Though I'm sure most of you have read it, my lovelies, here's my snarky synopsis. So four young people with mixed up love lives venture into the forest and get hassled by fairies. Said fairies work their magic and mess up their love lives even more and of course, shenanigans ensue. Also there are some goofy actors and one of them gets his head turned into a donkey. That reminds me of some of the transformations in Strange Happenings, how about you?
I love everything about this story, it's fun and low on the tragedy (unlike all the Shakespeare we had to read in school). Speaking of school: if you feel the need to over analyze this please feel free to do so here.
Reading this makes me want to watch the movie again. I like the 1999 version with just about every famous person ever in it. I highly recommend it, everyone is very good looking and shimmery. I remember seeing this play performed live when I was a youngster at Shakespeare in the Park here in Buffalo. Between getting bit by mosquitoes it was super enjoyable. For those of you who have not enjoyed it I say: to the theatre (or netflix) with you! or, you know...read it...possibly with friends. Extra points to those who use fun voices/accents.

Strange Happenings by Avi

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152057900
• ISBN-13: 978-0152057909
• List Price: $15.00
• I finished this book on June 20

The subtitle of this book is Five tales of Transformation and that's exactly what it is. This was the last book for the challenge besides the extra credit book (which I'll be finishing later today) and it was a quick fun read.
When I was a little Bee I used to hate going to school and I would always wish I was my cat, Ivy, so I wouldn't have to go. Ivy got to sit at home in sunbeams all day and do whatever she wanted and I had to go to lame-ass school and do math (to this day math makes me ill). As you can guess, I never turned into a cat, but Tom did, in one of the stories in this book. Tom finds out, undoubtedly as I would have, that being a cat is kinda lame and he wants to switch back. Trouble is the former boy then cat now inhabiting Tom's human body does not want to switch back. Super weak! It just goes to show you kids, don't trust talking stray cats. Oh, who am I kidding? We all know I love talking animals.
I'm not sure what my favorite story in the book is, but I think the one titled "Curious" is sticking to me the most. It's about a kid who's very curious and sets out to find the truth about the town baseball mascot. And um, bad stuff ensues. Yikes. I think this one is too creepy for some younglings (by that I mean too scary for me). Did I mention that I'm afraid of mascots of any kind? Once a guy dressed up like a big stupid pink ice cream cone put his arm around me and I nearly punched his big pink gut. See, all I'm saying is, it could be a killer under there. Or Cher. I'm just saying, what's Cher been doing lately?
Anywho: this was a fun short one of stories that seemed somewhat familiar to me, like I'd heard them around a campfire before, or something. In fact, I think that would be the perfect place to hear them. Avi, of course, has written a gajillion books (48,317 results, Amazon? Really?) and this one probably just slipped out one morning while he ate his frosted flakes. But it was cool and worth a read, not to mention boasting a cool cover image. The last thing I read where people turned into other things was The Metamorphosis. Somehow, I think you won't find it hard to believe that this was a little tastier than Kafka.

The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (July 22, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679879250
• ISBN-13: 978-0679879251
• List Price: $13.60
• I finished this book on June 3

Okay, so this one is the second in the His Dark Materials trilogy. I read the first book last spring when I was in my young adult books class. I have been waiting to read the others for a while now and I finally had time. Not to mention, they count towards the challenge.
The first book (soon to be a movie staring the hungry Nicole Kidman) centers mostly on Lyra, a little girl in a world that both different and similar than ours. In Lyra's world everyone has a Daemon, who is basically an animal version of their soul. The daemon's of children change to whatever animal shape they want but when a child becomes an adult the daemon takes on a fixed form. At the movie's website you can take a quiz and get your own daemon. Mine is a badass wolf, (fear him!) by clicking you can also see what yours might be (and if you do, tell me in the comments!)
In this book there is a lot more going on than just Lyra's exploits. We meet a boy named Will who is from our world, and many other characters. My favorite part of this book is all the different plots going on and the different motivations of all the different characters. Reading I was struck by how real and human so many of the characters felt to me. There is, however, an injury of a character that made me mighty angry and which reminded me of a similar injury in another book which also steamed me up. (hint: dad a chum, dad a chee, I can't help but bring up Stephen King all the time, I'm rubbish.)
This trilogy has a lot going on in the allegory department. Toward the end of this book many things became clear to me and I'm very excited to jump into the next one. The book focuses on, to name a few: sin, evolution, the Fall, and many other religious ideas. I'm expecting there to be an all out war with the heavens in the next book and I'm not thinking I'll be disappointed.
There's about a million sites online dedicated to this series, but here's what I suggest: for character and plot info as well as analysis check out spark notes and the wikipedia article. Also check out the Random House page and this page which has a whole chat community.

Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Harvest Books; Reissue edition (November 15, 1992)
• ISBN-10: 0156454890
• ISBN-13: 978-0156454896
• List Price: $25.00
• I finished this book on May 1

So, this is the first book I've read for the Once Upon a Time Challenge, and I feel it was a good start. I chose this particular collection of folktales because I have read and liked Calvino in the past. I read Calvino's The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount in school and even laboriously picking it apart in a lit class didn't kill it for me. I also booktalked the Cloven Viscount for a split themed booktalk (cause I'm a nerd like that).
This book is exactly what it sounds like a massive collection of folktales collected and retold by Calvino from all over Italy. There are a ton of them in here - and they are all brief, one page or two a pop. Some of them are more fun than others. All of them are very reminiscent to me of other folklore and fables I've heard. Most of them involve someone outsmarting someone else and then getting to marry the princess. I have come to two conclusions: never trust a person you meet in the woods, and, two: I would have hated to be a princess back then, because it's clear that your parents would marry you off to just about anyone (including a baddie known as the 'mangy one' nice use of the word mange).
Another common theme in these stories is that no one ever does what they are told. For example, in one story called "Silver Nose" a young girl goes to work for a mysterious stranger with a Silver Nose, even though her mother tells her not to. First off, yikes stripes, who thinks it's going to be a good idea to work for a dude with a silver nose? How is that even attached? Anywho: this Mensa quality genius of a girl decides to open the one door in the house that old Silver Schnoz tells her not to (obviously an awesome plan) and of course, it's hell and Schnozzola is the Devil. Then two more sisters decide to open the forbidden door. All I'm saying is: I have power over my own curiosity. No one in this book does. That's all.
I liked Calvino's telling of the stories, but I wouldn't recommend reading the book cover to cover as I did. It becomes very repetitive after a while. As I do with my books of fairy tales I think this would be much more fun as light occasional reading. I also like skipping around books like this. For more fun stuff, check out some fables online and this fun Andersen's Fairy Tales site where you can hear a story (and send me an e-card).

Sabriel by Garth Nix

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Listening Library; Unabridged edition (April 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807205567
• ISBN-13: 978-0807205563
• List Price: $33.00
• I finished listening to this audio book on April 4

So, I'd seen this one in YA collections and I was interested. But it was not until I saw the audio version read by Tim Curry that I had to get it. Friends and neighbors, I love Tim Curry, and he read this with gusto. Sometimes he rolls his Rs, not to mention pronouncing the word "lieutenant" with an F in it which gets me all worked up. And there's all these cool fantasy things for him to say so he sounds extra cool, but seriously, I would listen to him read the phone book.
The best part is that the story is super good too. It's about Sabriel, who had grown up at a boarding school, learning some magic, but nothing of the mysterious Old Kingdom beyond the wall. Her father is a necromancer and she discovers that he's trapped in death when he sends the tools of his trade, the sword and bells to her by means of a dead guy. Sabriel must travel across the wall into the magic and dangerous Old Kingdom and save her father. Once there she finds how little she really knows about the kingdom and her family. What she thought was her father's name, Abhorsen, she finds, is really his title, a bloodline and a responsibility. Now that he is trapped in death she is the Abhorsen. Not to mention that there is a terribly powerful dead monster-guy after her and the only guidance she has is a sardonic talking cat and a man who she frees along the way who has been imprisoned in wood for the last 200 odd years (might he be a handsome prince?)
I was so into this I sat in my own parking lot like a creepy stalker listening to it. Toward the end every place I went I was mad when I got there because I had to get out of my vehicle and stop listening. This is part of a series, so I will definitely be reading the next ones. I'm always mad when I finish stuff like this. Now I'm sitting at work, having just heard the exciting conclusion and I'm all daydreaming: Hmm, I wonder what Sabriel and Touchstone are doing now? Yeah, I'm a nut job, but I also think that's a sign of really good characters. I would read a book that was just Sabriel sitting around having dinner and cleaning her bells. There's a website for the book, but it won't tell you more than what I did. Dreamy sigh - I love YA fantasy books.
P.S. I swear I'm reading something from the list next. Cross my heart.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st ed edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380977281
• ISBN-13: 978-0380977284
• I finished this book on Mar. 18

Okay, so I'm a big fan of the Neil Gaiman stuff I've read before, like Sandman and Coraline. I also happen to heart his blog. He's cool and funny and links to neat stuff, in addition to saying something during scrotum-gate about loving librarians.
So, being the flaming nerd that I am I felt it only prudent to read more of his stuff (the good news is, he's written approximately a bajillion things). I interlibrary loaned a bunch of his books, and Stardust happened to be the first thing to arrive (there's another one waiting for me as we speak, which makes my day). Guys, two pages in I was in love. There's many reasons, so here goes. Number one, the design of the book is great (though I've since learned there are illustrated copies, I do not have one of those). The pages are that cool uneven rough cut which I find oddly satisfying. The author and title info are in a weird place, which is also neat. I also love chapters that have descriptive names, and I double love ones that are titled "In which..." and then cryptically detail what happens in said chapter. love. it.
So, besides all that stuff we have a funny, sweet and captivating little fairy tale. Tristan makes an impossible promise to the most beautiful girl in town and sets off into the land of Faerie to retrieve a star for her. The good news is: he finds the star (who is a young woman like creature) the bad news is, he's about six months walk from home and trying to bring an obstinate star with a broken leg back with him. There are also other story lines that of course come flawlessly together in the end. There are some ghosts, many people changing into other things and back again and even the mysterious unknown lineage of several characters, so, basically, all the components of a great fairy tale. Not to mention that Gaiman's prose is funny, weird and perfect. Reading this pasted a goofy smile on my face and gave me the warm fuzzies. I can't wait to read more of his books.
I have since learned that they are making this into a movie. I hope it will be good, though it seems like the story has been changed marginally. Claire Danes plays the star, so that's cool, I imagine she should look like she did in Polish Wedding, and looks like she will, so I'm psyched about that.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean

Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (July 2, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0380977788
ISBN-13: 978-0380977789
List Price: $15. 99

I read this little book the other night, and I must admit that I had to sit up to finish it so I could know whether or not this book had a happy ending. The reading level for this book is listed at about 9 - 12 but I must confess that this gore loving scary movie junkie totally got the creepies from it.
Little Coraline is very smart, very bored, and very ignored by her parents. As you can probably guess this a bad combination and she gets into trouble. She finds a door to another version of her apartment with another version of her parents, who are waiting to make her theirs. Except they have buttons for eyes. That's right buttons for eyes. Does that give anyone the heebie jeebies other than me? Yikes. Anyway, they keep getting creepier and creepier until Coraline has to fight her way out.
In a related note why can't my cats talk like the one in this book? They would be more interesting, even if they only said 'feed me'.
I also found from some preliminary poking that this is going to be an animated movie with Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher. I have some problems with this. I know DF is really cute and talented but does she have to be in every child role ever? I also would like to see her tackle some older parts because I think she could really pull it off. Oooh, sorry, this is a book blog. But you can probably expect that I will talk about movies made from books I've read, just to let you know. But I think that the movie could be really cool, so I'll be sure to keep you updated.
This book was cool and creepy and definitely worth the short time it took to read.

Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano

Hardcover: 126 pages
Publisher: Vertigo; 1st ed edition (November 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1563895730
ISBN-13: 978-1563895739
List Price: unknown

The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman is a series of graphic novels about Morpheus or Dream. I have read two books in this series. They are interesting, but I am usually feeling that I would like more of the character Dream.
This is sort of love tale/Chinese fable. It is not a traditional graphic novel, I would call it a picture book. Mostly it is text on one page and illustrations on the other. Some of the illustrations cover both pages. The story is about a magic fox who falls in love with a monk. She tries to protect the monk from death by asking Dream for help. Then the monk realized what has happened and goes to rescue her. The story is very sweet and interesting and the characters of the monk and fox are interesting. I am left, once again, trying to root for the union of man and fox in my head. We all know it's not going to happen, but I'm all 'C'mon....' Either way the story is neat.
The illustrations are very beautiful if a little more abstract than I would sometimes like. They are colorful and definitely add a lot to the story.
This might be a good book for someone to introduce themselves to the Sandman books, but it is not entirely like the rest.