2. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

INKHEART by Cornelia Funke (The Chicken House, 2003)

GENRE: Fantasy

HONORS: Askews Torchlight Children’s Book Award, Book Sense Book of the Year Finalist, Colorado Children’s Book Award, Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award, Locus Award Finalist, Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature Finalist, Nene Award, West Australian Young Readers’ Book Award

REVIEW:

Ever since her mother left when she was very young, twelve-year-old Meggie has bonded with her bookbinder father, Mo, over their love of books.  When a mysterious scarred man named Dustfinger visits their house, Mo tells Meggie that they have to go to his aunt Elinor’s house and Dustfinger tags along.  Nervous about why they needed to learn home so quickly, Meggie learns that her father has the ability to read characters out of books and, when she was only a few years old, he read a villainous character, Capricorn, and some of his henchmen from a book.  However, when Capricorn came out, Meggie’s mother went into the story.  Believing in Mo’s power, Capricorn is searching for him in order to force him to read a monster out of his story and destroy his enemies.  After being captured by Capricorn’s henchmen and escaping, Meggie, Mo, Dustfinger, and Elinor realize that they must find the book’s author and convince him to change the ending of the story if they have any chance of defeating Capricorn.

OPINION:

Although it took me a little while to get into the book, once Meggie reached Capricorn’s village, I could not put the book down.  The mystery surrounding Mo’s ability and the suspense of Meggie, Mo, Dustfinger, and Elinor trying and failing to evade Capricorn’s henchmen helped keep me interested and I wanted to find out what happened next.  Funke creates a unique world in which reality and fantasy coexist.  Also, the character of Meggie is the perfect blend of courage and vulnerability, making her capable of handling the dangers she faces while still having the fear and worries that any child would have in the same situation.  Book lovers will connect with the story of reading characters out of books as I’m sure most would love to meet some of their favorite characters.  The book cover is perfect for representing the story with the hand reaching out and it would also interest tweens browsing for a new book.  The length of the novel may be a deterrent to some tweens, so I would recommend this to tweens that are fans of longer novels, such as the Harry Potter series.

IDEAS:

This book would be great for a library display recommending different types of children’s fantasy novels with sequels, as well as a display featuring books about books.