INKSPELL
by Cornelia Funke
The Chicken House/Scholastic
ISBN-10: 0439554012
ISBN-13: 9780439554015
Ages 9-12
656 pages

• Read an Excerpt

In their first adventure, Meggie and her father Mo discovered they possessed a unique and wonderful talent: the gift of reading a book's character into real life and reading a real-life person into a book. For ten long years Meggie and Mo suffered the separation from their mother and wife, Resa, when she was read into their favorite story, and fought off the evils of Capricorn, who was read out of the same book. In this sequel to INKHEART, Meggie and her parents find themselves reunited, comfortable and safe for the moment.

But the quiet doesn't last for long. Farid, another misplaced character, is desperate to follow his teacher, Dustfinger, who returned to his own book. Farid begs the help of Meggie to read him into Dustfinger's story. She'll do it on one condition --- that she can go, too. She's dreamt of visiting the Inkworld, exploring The Wayless Woods, seeing the blue fairies, and meeting all of the fascinating characters in her favorite book. She leaves her parents a note, and then attempts to do what no one has done before --- read herself into a book. And she succeeds!

Meggie isn't too worried about getting home again. She knows that the book's author, Fenoglio, had already been read into the story. So when she is ready to return, she'll just find him, have him write her going home, she'll read it aloud, and travel back home. Simple.

Or maybe not. Things don't always go as planned, such as her parents also getting read into the story, Mo getting wounded (almost fatally), and her parents getting captured and locked in the dungeons of The Castle of Night. Fenoglio tries to help by writing more of the story, but it seems that the story is progressing of its own accord, and it doesn't seem to be heading for a happy ending!

Cornelia Funke does an amazing job of weaving words into this magical story. Who hasn't dreamt of entering a favorite book? She brings those dreams to life through Meggie and her adventures. Funke's beautiful descriptions of the Inkworld are colorful and inviting, enticing every reader to want to follow Meggie into the story. The third installment of this trilogy could not come fast enough!

   --- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

Back to top.