Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion

Are Coraline's parents actually neglectful, or simply preoccupied? How harmless is their behavior? Would we find the behavior harmless if it wasn't portrayed from the receiving end: a child's perspective?

Basically, what does this book say about being too busy? Discuss. =]

I think they're preoccupied. I'm a really weird person who remembers what it was like to be eight years old. I don't remember parents ever really being part of our lives. I spent all day outside with my friends. That was my world. My father's world was work and my mother's world was taking care of the house. If I complained about boredom, the standard response was "only boring people get bored." This was back in the Sixties and times have changed so much since I was a child. But, in my childhood the world of parents and the world of children only crossed for church, vacation and mealtimes.

The biggest difference between Coraline's childhood and mine is that Coraline has no other children to play with.

I had a similar response to Sandi. I wondered at the end if this really happened to Coraline, or if she made the whole situation up to entertain herself.

The thing about the neglect in Coraline is that, the way the point-of-view is structured, we see it through her eyes. So I couldn't decide whether or not her parents really were neglectful or if that was just how Coraline saw it. I mean, by the time I was Coraline's age, my parents weren't usually sitting down with me to entertain me -- I was expected to do it myself.

Of course, this was a fairy tale story, so Coraline ended up brave and independent from this sort of child-rearing. But as a novelist I could see the other side too -- how I could use the exact same upbringing to justify a character going into crime/ getting into trouble/ running away to Vegas with someone who turns out to be a man/ etc.

I did kinda think the parents were neglecting her. I am not sure of her age (I don't remember reading what it is) but a child around 10 should be taken to the park I think. It soudns like her parents worked around the clock to me. Though it's true maybe from a parents perspetive they were just checking their email.

I think it is pretty typical of our current world. Most children have working parents. Plus, this was supposed to be during the summer and I think kids spend a lot of time on their own in the summer. Working parents still have to work during the summer months and kids have the whole day off, like Coraline, they get bored and wish their parents had more time to spend with them.

I think interpreting the parents as neglectful is a very adult interpretation. This story is told from a little girl's perspective and I don't think we should lose that point of view.

I agree with what everyone is basically saying here. The story is told from the POV of a little girl, so whether or not the parents are actually being neglectful or not, whether they are simply checking their email or not, there really is no way to tell. The recipes do lend us a clue that the father is in fact not neglectful, and even though he never turns his back away from his computer----don't we all do that sometimes?

But I find it odd how quickly Coraline accepts that her mother has been missing for so long. As if this is something she is used to and has gone through before (unless, of course, even this fact is part of her game to occupy herself).

Whether the parents are neglectful or not, I think it is clear that Coraline at least feels neglected, which is somehow just as valid as actually being neglected.

And about whether or not he was dreaming or making up the whole thing, I can't decide. I seems likely that it was a dream because her parents don't remember (and Alice was dreaming in Wonderland)--- but doesn't she find the remainders of the marbles and the key in her pockets?

WHen I grew up my parents worked - we entertained ourselves. Mostly with friends. I think the saddest part of this story is that there seemed to be no friends or anyone even slightly near her age. I do think though that parents need to make sure their child does have things to do. Boredom is a dangerous thing. I think most children who get into trouble over things like vandalism and stuff do because they are bored.

It was the end of summer. All kids are bored by then. Parents are ready to send their kids back to school. I really don't see them as neglectful. Both parents are in the home working rather than in an office. Coraline would need to entertain herself while they worked. I think she did with a wonderful imagination.