Igraine the Brave

by Cornelia Funke

Igraine is the daughter of two magicians.  Her older brother is a magician in training, and a good one at that.  Igraine could be good, but she's rather be a knight!  Who wants to be inside reading all day when you could be fighting the bad men?  Her parents will not let her set out as a 10 year old knight errant, so she's stuck.  Until the day life gets exciting.  Her parents make a slight mistake with a spell and accidentally turn themselves into pigs.  That same day the next door castle is taken over by an evil sorcerer and his knight.  The parents know how to reverse the swine spell, but they are out of the red giant hairs, so someone needs to go get them.  The most logical choice is for the brother (being the better magician) to stay and defend the castle and Igraine to go get the hairs.  On her way to the giant she meets the Sorrowful Knight of the Mount of Tears.  He is a disgraced knight, having failed in his charge to protect some other girls.  He is afraid of failing again, but knows Igraine should not be out on her own.  In spite of his doubts he sets out beside her, hoping this time will be different.

Audience

This is for younger girls.  The characters are simple and likable, with clearly drawn lines.  The humor would have my third graders in stitches.

What I Love About This Book
I love Igraine's simple loving nature.  I also relate to the Sorrowful Knight.  This is a fun story that made me laugh and was a breath of fresh air

Cautions
None I can think of

Inkspell and Inkdeath

Yes, I'm reviewing each title in the series separately.  These are the two sequels to Inkheart, but they have a different feeling for me.  Inkheart is about storybook characters coming into our world, this book is about the Inkheart characters going into the Inkworld.  Dustfinger got all he ever wanted, to go back.  But ten years in the other world changed him, and he finds that leaving everyone behind is not as liberating as he thought.  In the meantime Farid solicits Meggie's help to get to Dustfinger.  Meggie sees this as her ultimate dream come true and tries not to think about how her father will react when he sees that Meggie has left him for the world that stole his wife for ten years.  Mo and Theresa find a way into the Inkworld hoping beyond hope their family will be together again. 

Audience
This is to middle grade readers (6-8) and the content is inappropriate below that.  The suffering of many of the characters, including poverty and prejudice, is described in detail, and some of the decisions are morally questionable.  It makes for a rich story but also makes it less child-friendly.

What I Love About These Books

1) I always love Dustfinger for his contradictions.  If you've read the first book you know that he really is the coward he describes himself to be...except when he isn't. 

2) The emotional lines were an intense read.  Some rang true, others felt melodramatic, but I enjoyed all of them.  I felt just about every character was improved upon. 

3) If you are going to like this book, you have to fall in love with the Inkworld and it's people, because this is their story. 

4) Having read the romance plot through to the end, I must say it rang true to me.  I want my kids, especially my girls, to understand the conclusions Meggie draws at the end of the series.

Cautions
1) These books are dark.  My experience is that we bring what darkness we have into any book, but some invite more than others.  The Inkworld has some truly evil characters and they are explored
2) There is profanity.  I didn't feel it was excessive, but depending on the child, you may want to hold off.  Farid calls some characters an SOB, so it's not exactly mild.
3) The book is about 640 pages long with a lot of description.  The descriptions are beautiful, but I skimmed some of them.
4) Inkspell leaves on a killer cliffhanger, so have Inkdeath ready.

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.