Inkheart
By: Cornelia Funke ; translated from the German by Anthea Bell.
Contributors: Bell, Anthea.
Edition: 1st American ed.
Series: Inkheart Trilogy, 1, bk. 1
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2003-12-XX
Place of publication: New York City, USA
Language: eng
Translated from: ger
Translation of: Tintenherz
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 534
ISBN-13: 9780439531641
Subjects: Books and reading -- Juvenile fiction; Characters and characteristics in literature -- Juvenile fiction; Magic -- Juvenile fiction; Bookbinding -- Juvenile fiction; Authorship -- Juvenile fiction; Italy -- Juvenile fiction
Genres: Juvenile fiction
First sentence: "Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain."
Description: 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.