| Plot Summary of Inkheart |
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"A young girl, Meggie, and her father, Mo, live alone together. Mo is a book binder. When a stranger comes to their house in the middle of the night, calling Mo "slivertounge," Meggie is curious. She eavesdrops on them and discovers that they know each other. Meggie doesn't understand everything completely though. The stranger, Dustfinger, tells Mo that he should leave.
The next day, Mo and Meggie leave to go to Meggie's aunt Elinor's house. Mo had been trying to get away from Dustfinger, which didn't work, because Dustfinger had followed them. He travels with them to Elinor's house. Meggie gathers very little information about a book that a supposedly evil Capricorn wants from Mo. When the book is stolen from Elinor's house, along with Mo, Meggie sets off to find her father. Elinor and Meggie do find Mo at Capricorn's village.
Capricorn wants Mo to read out certain things out of various books so he can expand his need for power. Dustfinger is betrayed by Capricorn, and joins forces with Mo, Meggie, and Elinor in their attempt to stop Capricorn. The only way they figure to stop him is to Signor Fenoglio, the author of Inkheart and the creator of Capricorn."
Kari, Resident Scholar
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"Meggy and her father, a "book doctor", are living a perfectly normal life until a strange man shows up at their door. He tells them Capricorn will find them. They leave to "visit an aunt" but end up being dragged off with a mysterious brown paper-wrapped book. Meggy finds herself in a valley with the malicious, merciless Capricorn. She finds out about her father's amazing gift, the contents of the book, the reason her mother disappeared, and where Capricorn and his dark cast came from. After finally escaping the grasp of Capricorn's valley, they find the one man that can possibly stop Capricorn - his creator. They are all dragged back and they are separated in their attempt to save themselves and each other. The story is resolved when Meggy finally rids the earth of Capricorn with the help of her companions and Meggy's mother is returned to them, yet Meggy will never be the same."
Stephanie Chao, Resident Scholar
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"Twelve-year old Meggie Folchart lives alone with her father, Mo. Mo is a talented book binder who's love for books is only superceded by his love for Meggie and for his lost wife. Meggie had never been told where her mother went or why she left, all she knows is she has been without her mother since she was three-years old. In spite of that vacancy in her life, however, Megie's life with her father and with her learned love and respect for books is near idyllic; until one night when a stranger, with the unlikely name of Dustfinger, comes to pay Mo a visit. A whispered conversation between Mo and Dustfinger, behind the closed door of Mo's workshop, then starts an odyssey that begins with a rushed trip to Meggie's great-aunt Elinor's home and ends by nearly killing them in the village of a villain named Capricorn.
It isn't long before Meggie learn that book binding is not her father's only talent; he also has the ability to “read” people and objects right out of stories and into the real world, with a sometimes devastating side-effect for those who might hear him as he reads. Meggie must also come to grips with two other unsettling revelations: the story of how her mother disappeared and the discovery that she has inherited her father's arcane talent.
Capricorn is after Mo because of his unusual ability and is also after a book in Mo's possession, a book called “Inkheart.” Capricorn and his band of remarkable thugs will stop at nothing to capture and control Mo and gain possession of the book.
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Harvey Grund, Resident Scholar
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"Ever since her mother disappeared nine years ago, twelve-year-old Meggie and her father Mo have centered their lives on books and reading. Piles of books are stacked all over their house, Mo spends his days restoring books in his workshop, and Meggie often falls asleep with a book under her pillow. Mysteriously enough, though, Meggie realizes that she has never heard Mo read aloud.
When she discovers Mo's secret - that he can literally read characters from books into life - Meggie begins to think that there might be more to her mother's disappearance than she has always been told. And when one of the menacing characters from a book she has read shows up at her front door, Meggie discovers that she is in for a quest.
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Samantha S., Resident Scholar
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"Twelve-year old Meggie Folchart lives alone with her father; Mo. Mo is a talented book binder whose love for books is only superseded by his love for Meggie and for his lost wife. Meggie had never been told where her mother went or why she left, all she knows is she has been without her mother since she was three-years old.
She wonders why her dad never reads aloud to her, until one day she realizes that she and her dad can read characters out of books. Suddenly, one night a stranger, with the name of Dustfinger, comes to pay Mo a visit. A whispered conversation between Mo and Dustfinger had been heard by Maggie.
Moving to Aunt Elinor's to protect the valuable book Inkheart from both Capricorn and Dustfinger; the two who had been accidentally read out by Mo. Capricorn and his gang of thugs try to steal the book so they can be read back into Inkworld. Capricorn and his gang plan to kidnap Mo as well so they could be read back, but what they don't know is that Meggie can also read characters in and out of any book."
Cindy Dinh, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Inkheart |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 22%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 32%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 28%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 18%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy world/fantasy past
Mental/magical powers focus
Yes
magical powers:
- good magical powers being hunted by non/weaker magical(s) (fantasy)
- bad magical powers hunting non/weaker magical(s) (fantasy)
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a kid
Has magical/special powers?
Yes
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Has magical powers?
Yes
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Terrain
- Mountains
- Forests
Earth setting:
- 20th century
- current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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