Chapter Books - Inkheart

With all the recent talk about Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and its impending movie being cast, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. From what I understand most book loving kids and adults have either read Inkheart or at least have heard of it. I originally received a copy of it from my Dad about a year ago. It was one of the last gifts he gave me before he passed away this past spring. I didn’t actually read it until a few months ago as it never really interested me other than my Dad gave it to me. So, I decided to read it because I wanted to know what it was about and what made my Dad think I would really like it. Generally, I am a fairly fast reader and usually finish books within the same day or night I start them. However, I could not do this with Inkheart. The storyline was a bit more complex than a typical children’s book and like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire it was pretty lengthy.

First of all, I wasn’t aware when reading the book that it was a translation from German (okay I am not always in the loop about my books’ authors or origins). This probably explains a few of the odd sentence structures and dialogue quirks I noticed, but it didn’t detract too much from the story. So anyway, the story itself is quite interesting in that twelve year-old Meggie is the only child of Mo and they are always moving about. Meggie isn’t sure why just like she isn’t sure what happen to her mother who disappeared years ago. Meggie like her Dad Mo is a lover of books and goes nowhere without them. They are her constant companions. As the story unfolds we discover that Mo has a gift that no other is known to have. Mo has the ability to read characters out of books. When Mo’s past begins to threaten him and Meggie again they are off to find another safe haven. Who Mo is running from and why definitely adds spice to the plot twisting tale. And, what did ever happen to Meggie’s mother makes for some good booktalking ideas.

Inkheart is filled with amazing characters and unusual situations. The sequel Inkspell is the second in the apparent trilogy tale. I personally have not gone onto the next book as the first left me with a satisfied feeling without the need to see what else happens. Even though the book concludes with the obvious “cliff-hanger” that left the characters in probable forthcoming danger, it ended well enough. Probably best for kids 10 and up mostly due to the length and multiple character intricacy. For a more in depth look at the characters and book take a look at wikipedia’s write up. The story though does make one wonder what would happen if books and their characters came to life. Good fantasy book.