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I read a book, whose title I've forgotten, in the fifth grade, which was about a girl who somehow 'went over' to the wrong side of her house and found that her parents (and brother, maybe?) had 'black button-like' eyes in the 'other house'. Her button-eyed parents and real parents coexist, but her real parents do not know of the existence of the button-eyed​ parents.

She somehow finds a way to speak to the button-eyed parents frequently(I think she was compelled to do so) by crossing over from her real house to the 'other house', but doesn't like them. They have an evil aura.

I'm afraid that's all I remember, and I know it's vague and sketchy, but that's the most I remember now!

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  • You can see the edit history here and by clicking the "edited x mins/hours ago" link above.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 9:30
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    This question does not show any research effort.
    – Yakk
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 17:32
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    @Yakk , I preferred using Stack Exchange due to the fact that experts answer my questions. I felt that I was likely to run into quite a good deal of irrelevant stuff if I surfed the Net for an answer, and chose to ask my question on a site where I could expect reliable and accurate answers. Still, I'll bear in mind to research any future questions before bringing them to the site!
    – Myungjin Hyun
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 18:12
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    @HarryWeasley I understand. I am simply quoting what the downvote button says; and honestly, did you do any research at all prior to asking this question?
    – Yakk
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 18:14
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    Well, my search for “button-eyed parents” did require some digging to get to Coraline. That is part of the fun, though: whatever the rules of SE, don't always be to wary to wander the internet. You never know what you might discover. Of course, not every discovery is a pleasant one … Whatever; Valorum likes the rep.
    – can-ned_food
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 9:23

1 Answer 1

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This is Coraline by Neil Gaiman.

Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures.

It may interest you to learn that they made it into an animated feature film.

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    "Black button eyes" was the phrase that stayed in my mind, even after so long!
    – Myungjin Hyun
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 8:41
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    @HarryWeasley, you have no idea how good Valorum is at this. Your question was a tad easy (it was made into a very popular stop motion film) but Valorum and Fuzzyboots are able to find the most obscure stuff in a matter of seconds. This stackexchange is inhabited by robots, I am almost certain.
    – Magikarp Master
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 8:50
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    @HarryWeasley - Buttons for eyes? Iconic
    – Valorum
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 9:20
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    Agreed, this was a very easy one as story identification questions go, and I would have jumped in if Valorum hadn't beaten me to it.
    – Mike Scott
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 9:28
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    @HarryWeasley They're easy if you already know the answer. The couple of story identification questions I've answered didn't require any research because I already knew what story they were referring to just from the few (unique) details they provided.
    – Anthony Grist
    Commented Jul 28, 2017 at 12:47

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