Teen Tuesday - Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Imagine a reader who reads so well that the characters come to life, literally. Meggie's Father is such a reader. He's had things come out of stories before, but this time he has read an evil ruler off the pages and into their world. Now they are all in danger. I always like a good bad guy, but I sure wouldn't want any of the bad guys from my favorite books to be in my real world.

In Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, characters are read right off the page and into real life, but there is a catch. for each character that comes into our world, someone from our world is sent into their world.

I enjoyed this story and the premise of someone reading aloud so well that they make the book come alive - and all the problems that could come from that happening.

I liked the villains and how they were created from someone's imagination. I liked the depth of them and the fact that the author always knows more about the character than they tell the reader. The main characters, Meggie, her father, Elinor, and Farid are people I would want on my side during hard times.

This book made me think - because I really love books and often felt so immersed in them that I felt I had entered their world, but what if books could enter our world - not that it is possible, but which characters would I have enter my world if I could?

There is a bit of swearing in this book - not a lot, but it didn't really need any.

If you long to be a master reader or storyteller, you will like this book. I consider myself a good reader. I've had students faint in class during my read aloud of Touching Spirit Bear, but even I can't read the characters right off the page.

This is the first book in a series of three.

I read Inkspell and liked it even more than Inkheart. I have not yet read Inkdeath.