Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Title: Inkheart
Author: Cornelia Funke

ISBN: 0439531640

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Copyright Date: 2003

Genre: Fantasy

About the Author:

 Following a post-graduate course in book illustration at the Hamburg State College of Design, Cornelia Funke worked as a designer and illustrator of children’s books. But disappointment in the way some of the stories were told, combined with her desire to draw fantastic creatures and magical worlds rather than the familiar situations of school and home, inspired her to write her own stories.

As a reader, Funke has always loved good fantasy, particularly such modern classics as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and J. M Barrie’s Peter Pan. Funke’s own success is now international, demonstrating the universal appeal – and power – of her storytelling.

Meet Cornelia. https://www.scholastic.com/corneliafunke/bio.htm.

Curriculum Ties:

• Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
• Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 

Plot Summary:

The story of Inkheart, like many good stories, begins on a dark and stormy night. Meggie, a precocious twelve-year-old girl, sees a mysterious figure outside her father’s home. Her father, a book binder, invites the man in and talks away from Meggie. She later finds out that this man is named Dustfinger, who is a character that her father accidentally summoned from the book Inkheart when reading it out loud. Unfortunately, this was not the only thing that happened. At this same time, two other people were drawn from the book, evil characters names Basta and Capricorn, while Meggie’s own mother was drawn into the book. Meggie’s father finds out that Capricorn is looking for him, and he and Meggie flee from their home. As they are in hiding, Meggie’s father is kidnapped, and Meggie must continue on her own to find her father, defeat Capricorn, and save her mother.

Critical Evaluation:

The story of Inkheart revolves around the around the value of books. The main characters Meggie and Mortimer, both have the power to bring books to life, and they work to preserve them as book binders. The other protagonists, Elinor, who lives as a book collecting hermit, and Fenoglio, the author of Inkheart, also view books as important. The villains, on the other hand, can’t read and view books with the utmost superstition. This not only is important in establishing a heroic virtue, but also is an important aspect of the plot, with Fenoglio writing and Meggie reading, the passage the ultimately defeats Capricorn. Another major theme in Inkheart is how evil characters can be. Though many books portray the villain as giving the heroes a chance, either through kindness or incompetence, Inkheart emphasizes the cold evil of Capricorn, and the cruelty of Basta, showing that some people cannot be trusted. This is a great shock to Meggie, and is a tipping point in her decision to defeat Capricorn and his minions. 

Readers Annotation:

Meggie is plunged into a mysterious world where characters from stories hunt her and her father, trying to capture them to use their strange ability to read things into reality for their own nefarious purposes. 

Book Talking Ideas:

• Talk about what the magic ability of Mortimer and Meggie can do. Discuss what books you would want to read if you could do that. 
•  Talk about who Dustfinger is and what his motivations are. What would you do to get home? Look for what Dustfinger does in his efforts to return to the book. 

Reading Level/Interest Age: 9-18

Challenge Issues:

• There is some violence, but this is limited to mostly threats and kidnapping.

Defense Collection:

• Gr. 6-12. One dark night, a mysterious man called Dustfinger appears at the house where Meggie lives with her father, a bookbinder. Dustfinger’s arrival sets in motion a long, complicated chain of events involving a journey, fictional characters brought to life, dangerous secrets revealed, threats of evil deeds, actual evil deeds, a long-lost relative found, and the triumph of creativity and courage. Despite the presence of several well-developed, sympathetic characters, the plot is often driven by the decidedly menacing, less-convincing villains. Although Meggie, one of the few young people in the book, remains the central character, she is not always in the forefront of the action or even on the scene. The points of view of sympathetic adult characters become increasingly important and more fully developed as the story progresses. Like many other fantasies, this will appeal to a broad age range, though the writing is far less child-centered than it is, for example, in the Harry Potter series. Translated from the German, this long book was written by the author of The Thief Lord (2002). -- Carolyn Phelan (BookList, September 1, 2003, p114)
• Gr 4-8–Characters from books literally leap off the page in this engrossing fantasy. Meggie, 12, has had her father to herself since her mother went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. Things change after a visit from a scarred man who calls himself Dustfinger and who refers to Mo as Silvertongue. Meggie learns that her father has been keeping secrets. He can "read" characters out of books. When she was three, he read aloud from a book called Inkheart  and released Dustfinger and other characters into the real world. At the same time, Meggie's mother disappeared into the story. Mo also released Capricorn, a sadistic villain who takes great pleasure in murdering people. He has sent his black-coated henchmen to track down Mo and intends to force him to read an immortal monster out of the story to get rid of his enemies. Meggie, Mo, Dustfinger, and Meggie's great-aunt Elinor are pursued, repeatedly captured, but manage to escape from Capricorn's henchmen as they attempt to find the author of Inkheart  in the hope that he can write a new ending to the story. This "story within a story" will delight not just fantasy fans, but all readers who like an exciting plot with larger-than-life characters. Pair this title with Roderick Townley's The Great Good Thing (2001) and Into the Labyrinth (2002, both Atheneum) for a wonderful exploration of worlds within words.–Sharon Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ (Reviewed October 1, 2003) (School Library Journal, vol 49, issue 10, p164)
• Awards:
• ALA Notable Children's Books: 2004
• Colorado Children's Book Award: Junior Book (1992-present)
• Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (North Dakota): Juvenile Books
• Nene Award (Hawaii)
• YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Magic in the Real World (2008)
• Freedom to Read Statement
• ALA Library Bill of Rights
• Springville Public Library Collection Development Policy
• The Library Director and designated staff actively evaluate and select materials. The Springville Public Library Board, acting under the authority given to it by Title 4, Chapter 6 of the Springville Municipal Code and Title 09 of the Utah State Code, has the ultimate responsibility for the determination of the policies for selection and acquisition of materials.
• Library materials are selected based on the following (not necessarily in order of priority):
• Local public demand and usage potential
• Popularity
• Subject coverage
• Relevance
• Accuracy and currency
• Presentation, readability and format
• Point of view (all sides)
• Cost
• Local connection
• Social values
• Collection balance
• To assess the item based on the above criteria, staff utilize:
• Nationally recognized and relevant pre-publication reviews
• Staff expertise
• Bestseller lists
• Patron recommendations and requests
• Reliable social media reviews 

Purpose in Collection:

Inkheart is a book that originated in Germany, which gives the book a different perspective. Cornelia Funke is also a very popular author, and is an valuable part of a teen collection.