literature

The premise of Inkheart, that some have the ability to call out characters from books by reading aloud, is absolutely wonderful. At first, of course, one thinks how great to have such a talent--to call out Bilbo or Willy Wonka or Aladdin, but what if you couldn't then return them to their homes--how tragic and cruel for them. Or even worse, what if you couldn't control your talent, so reading aloud Lord of the Rings might mean you'd get to talk to a hobbit or an elf, but also means you could just as easily be suddenly facing a troll or an orc or even worse, Sauron himself. Adding another achingly sharp layer,
what if whatever was called up from the book didn't simply appear but has to replace someone else in your world so that your best friend or father or mother got sent into the book world?
All of this is great fodder for a novel, opening up literally limitless characters. Unfortunately, Inkheart falls short in the execution. The story's main plot involves the struggle between the 12 year old main character (Meggie) and her father (Mo) and an evil villain (Capricorn) and his henchmen whom Mo accidentally "read" into being years ago, losing Meggie's mother into the book in turn. The villain is bent on turning Mo's talent to evil intent and will stop at nothing to get Mo in his power.
Or at least, so we're told, though to be honest, for all the many sentences about how evil Capricorn is, how sadistic his chief henchman is, by the middle of the book, their actions come across as less "evil" than bullying. Sure there are a lot of threats and abductions and hurling of people into "the crypt", but when nothing more untoward happens and when this sort of thing gets repeated several times, the villains tend to lose their bite. Perhaps this is due to the young age the book might be aimed at, though in that case the earlier descriptions of Capricorn's potential for horror should probably be downplayed as well.
The story begins when Mo learns from Dustfinger (another character from Capricorn's world accidentally brought into ours) that Capricorn has learned of his hiding place and is seeking both Mo and supposedly the only surviving copy of Capricorn's book. Mo, Meggie, and Dustfinger flee to Meggie's Aunt's house, filled with thousands of books. Without giving away too much, there is a betrayal, Mo is abducted as is Meggie eventually. Then there are escapes and then more abductions. The plot seems to circle around the same setting and even the same actions, never spiraling far from repetition, and because the villains are not particularly convincing as villains, the victories and defeats don't create much tension.
Along the way there are a few nice plot turns, such as when the author of Capricorn's book makes an appearance, but predictability returns shortly. The characterization is relatively weak. As mentioned, the villains are not all that believable as villains, and Meggie and Mo, while sympathetic, are a bit two-dimensional. They gain our sympathies more through tried and true plot (the missing mother, the abducted daughter)than through depth of feeling or character. Funke is at her strongest in the creation of her middling characters--Dustfinger, Meggie's aunt, and a young boy pulled from yet another novel in a "test run" for what is to be Mo's big work for Capricorn. These characters, neither wholly good or wholly evil, are more complex and thus add a level of complexity and unpredictability, bringing a refreshing air here and there into the story. They are not enough, however, and in plot, character and final resolution, Inkheart remains mostly predictable and static, lacking the richness of character, story, and description found in Funke's previous effort, The Thief Lord.

This book is the best book I have read all year!

First Meggie(main character)flees to her aunt Elinor's house, then they (Dustfinger, Meggie, and Elinor) go rescue Mo(Meggie's dad who can literally read stuff out of books)from Capricorn and Basta[bad guys (the bad guys were read out of Inkheart by Mo]. They get captured. They escape, (after Mo reads out gold for Capricorn) The book goes on like that (capture, escape) until the climax(Meggie finds she can literaly read stuff out of books too) when Meggie has to defeat Capricorn from taking over the world. The get help from the author of Inkheart and a boy Mo reads out of Tales from 1001 Nights.

This book is very interesting. It has a great plot line and great characters. The base of the story is original and ancient at the same time (people can read stuff out of books, literally) I love this book, it will make a great holiday present for your young adult reader.

This is the story of Meggie, a girl who has been brought up on books,and loves them more than anything, except her father, whom she calls Mo.
She, like everyone, has often wondered what it would be like to live in a book world, but when a book world comes to her life, it isn't as nice as you might think.
Mo is called Silvertongue, because when he reads aloud, things come out of books.Sometimes the things are alive, and not very pleasant.
Capricorn, a villain from the book Inkheart came to life in our world when Meggie was just a baby, and Mo has been running from him ever since. He couldn't run forever, and when Capricorn catches him, only Meggie---who might also have the silvertongue curse---can save him, with the cooperation of the slightly bonkers author of Inkheart,Fenoglio.
Things end all right, but many bad things happen that can never be healed. That's what gives this book its beautiful realism.