Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - a review

I wandered down to my library to find something to read, and realized that the ONE book I'm really in the mood for isn't there (it's making rounds with my students)! I'm feeling a little bit like the main character, Meggie, in Inkheart . She also loves books, and she'd agree with me that certain characters are old friends we need to visit once in a while; she'd agree that certain moods call for certain books, too!

This story appeals to fans of fantastic medieval kingdoms and magic as well as bibliophiles (book lovers). It's about Meggie's dad, Mo, who can "read" people out of books. You name it, any book, any character: fairies, birds, little glass men, etc. He can make them actually leave their stories and show up in your bedroom. But he has no idea how he does it, or how to UNDO it.

One day when Meggie is little, Mo accidentally reads two villains and an innocent juggler/fire eater out of their world. And his wife disappears - we assume INTO the book. Ten years later, Meggie doesn't even remember her mother, but the bad guys show up to catch Mo and make him use his "Magic Voice" for their own gain (imagine all the gold and jewels from Treasure Island landing in your living room). And the homesick fire eater, Dustfinger, is now dangerously desperate for Mo to read him back into his own story.

This is an odd case where I think the second book, Inkspell, is better than the first. Mo and Meggie end up INSIDE the story with new villains to fight. The little old man who created the original book is found to help re-write things. The action is faster, and the characters become even more interesting. I can't wait until the last in the trilogy, Inkdeath, comes out next October. I believe there is also a movie of Inkheart coming out next year, but my hopes aren't real high with Brendan Fraser cast as Mo.

When I first read Inkheart, it took me a while to warm up to it. There are some things I really DON'T like. For instance, Meggie calls her father by his first name, Mo. Maybe it's trivial, but my Southern sensibilities find it disrespectful. Also - and I'm assuming it's because this book is from Europe, where things are done differently - there are some words more crude than you'd expect from quality American children's lit. Then the translation sometimes seems awkward in phrasing as well as some of the situations.

I'm not a world traveler, so maybe that explains it, but in one part, Meggie is driving down the highway into Italy with her rich aunt, and they are so hot their clothes stick to the seats. It struck me as very odd that a wealthy woman would have a nice car, but no air conditioning. Maybe that's just the way Europe is. Mo can be overprotective - but then Meggie is awfully willful. The henchmen are stupid as well as evil, and that can get old pretty fast. I wonder how the author will wrap things up?

At first this book reminded me of The Neverending Story, but I like Inkheart's plot and characters much more. Aha! The Neverending Story is also German! Perhaps Funke was influenced by it. I've never seen that movie, so I don't know if it's anything like the book, which is OK, but that is a different post!