Inkheart

Have you ever had the experience where you're reading something, and all of the sudden the story jumps off the page and comes to life?  Meggie's father Mo is a book binder, or as Meggie calls him "the book doctor."  One day a man named Dustfinger shows up on their doorstep Mo convinces Meggie it's time to leave.  Somehow he seems bound to this Dustfinger person and Meggie is scared.  Dustfinger is likable, but something is shifty about him.  As the adventure unfolds Meggie finds her family is more connected to books than she knew.  She meets the book that stole away her mother, and finds the book that brought all her loved ones together again.

Audience

Book lovers welcome.  Reading level is about 5th grade.  My 3rd graders who enjoy reading could comprehend it well enough, but it is a bit long for their attention spans.  This does not strike me as a gender specific book with all the action in it.

What I Love About This Book

This is the only book I've met that explores what it's like to be a reader.  I quote this book to my students sometimes and they think I'm that wise.  I enjoy the characters.  All of them are archetypal, but I didn't feel any of the main ones were flat.  Even Basta has some sympathy from me, though perhaps not Capricorn.  I also liked having a quote at the beginning of each chapter.  Today I explained to a student that if you read a book often enough it becomes a friend.  Well not only is this book a friend, but it's all about people who found their best friends on the printed page.

Cautions

1) All the books in this series are very descriptive.  Most of the pages are telling you what things look like.  They are wonderful, but if that's not your thing, get out

2) This is one of those books where a mystery is hinted at on page one and not revealed until near the end, with only hints here and there.

3) Again, the characters are archetypal, which means they will remind you of other characters you know.  You can say it's less original, but I think it's done on purpose.  Either way, you will recognize a lot of characters from other books.