Coraline

By Neil Gaiman.

Creepy. Coraline discovers a mirror world just on the other side of a door in her flat that supposedly leads to nowhere. She finds her other mother and her other father. Perhaps the strangest detail about them: they have black button eyes. She has to save herself, rescue her true parents, and save the souls of three other children using her wits and summoning her bravery.

The black cat that can travel between the worlds is a marvelous and enigmatic character. "We -- we could be friends, you know," Coraline says to the cat, which replies back to her "We could be rare specimens of an exotic breed of African dancing elephants." Nevertheless, the cat stays with her, and even provides help, later on.

Creepy. And perfect for October. I wonder when I should encourage MJ to read it. Maybe next October.