On this Wikipedia the language links are at the coraline cake topper of the page across from the article title. This article is about the novella. This article’s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.

See Wikipedia’s guide to writing better articles for suggestions. This article’s plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. Coraline Jones and her workaholic parents move into a large, old house that has been divided into flats. In these flats, Coraline finds she has quirky new neighbors.

These include Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, two elderly women retired from the stage, and Mr. Bobo, initially referred to as “the crazy old man upstairs”, who claims to be training a jumping mouse circus. Bobo relays a message to Coraline from his mice: “Don’t go through the door. And while having tea with Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, Miss Spink spies danger in Coraline’s future after reading her tea leaves.

This time she finds an oddly familiar corridor. On the other side of this corridor, she notices she is back in her apartment. She finds the residents of this “other apartment” to be her mother and father, but they now have buttons for eyes. Coraline immediately realizes that this “Other World” is far more interesting than her own. Here, her “parents” pay attention to her, her new button-eyed neighbors Miss Spink and Miss Forcible perform wonderful shows on stage every night, and Mr. Bobo hosts a real amazing jumping mouse circus.

One night, after Coraline returns to the copy of her flat, the Other Mother offers Coraline the opportunity to stay in the Other World permanently, but in order to do so, Coraline must allow buttons to be sewn over her eyes. Coraline is horrified and escapes through the door to her real world home. Upon her return, Coraline finds that her real parents are missing. When Coraline finds the Other Mother, she is persuaded to stay but refuses. As a punishment, the Other Mother locks Coraline in a small space behind a mirror.

In this small, dark space, she meets three ghost children. After the Beldam releases Coraline from behind the mirror, Coraline proposes a game. If she can find the essences of the ghost children’s souls and her parents, then she, her parents, and the ghost children may all go free. If she fails, she will finally accept the Beldam’s offer, let buttons be sewn into her eyes, and stay in the Other World forever. That night, Coraline has a dream in which she meets the three ghost children at a picnic.

The children are dressed in clothes from different time periods and one seems to have wings. They warn her that her task is still not done: the Beldam will attempt to get her back and will try to get the key to unlock the door. Coraline goes to an old well in the woods to dispose of the key. Coraline is the 11 year old main character. She is a young explorer that is curious, intelligent, resourceful, and courageous.