Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart. New York: Scholastic Inc, 2007. Print.

Inkheart book trailer

This book is about a 12 year old girl named Meggie. Meggie lives with her book doctor father, Mo, in a small European farmhouse. There is one thing Meggie loves almost as much as her Mo, books. Meggie lives, breathes, and eats books. Since her father is a book doctor and a lover of books, Meggie has learned to take care of books and well as read them all the time. She even sleeps with books under her pillow. As perfect and sweet as their life may look, life with Meggie and Mo is not all that it seems. One night, Meggie sees a strange man looking into her bedroom window from a distance. She calls for Mo and, to Meggie's surprise, he lets this stranger inside. This stranger, who is identified as Dustfinger, tells Mo that Capricorn knows where Mo is and is coming for him and the book. Meggie wonders what on earth could be going on. Who are they talking about? What is so special about this book?
In this book, there are some important themes. One of the big themes is family is always there for you. At the end when Meggie cannot kill Capricorn, Mo steps in and helps her read those final words. Also, throughout the book, either Meggie or Mo get kidnapped by Capricorn. Every time it happens, they are each determined to save the other. Another theme is friendship, all of Meggie's and Mo's friends all come to help in some sort of way every time they need help. Another important theme is secrets. Throughout the book, everyone has a secret and lies to keep that secret hidden. They may be keeping these secrets for good or bad reasons, but they do get found out in the end.

According to John Noell Moore in his Interpreting Young Adult Literature: Literary Theory in the Secondary Classroom, he talks about how archetypes are used in young adult literature. In Inkheart, the hero archetype is used. At first glance, you would think that Mo would be the hero of the story with Meggie as a sidekick. Looking at Joseph Campbell's monomyth and hero archetype, you will see that Meggie, not Mo, is the hero in this story. The pattern of the monomyth has 17 stages in total, but is broken up into three parts. Part 1, Departure, moves through five stages: (1) The Call to Adventure, (2) Refusal of the Call, (3) Supernatural Aid, (4) The Crossing of the First Threshold, and (5) The Belly of the Whale. In Part 2, Initiation, the pattern includes six stages: (1) The Road of Trials, (2) The Meeting with the Goddess, (3) Woman as Temptress, (4) Atonement with the Father, (5) Apotheosis, and (6) The Ultimate Boon. The final phase of the cycle, part 3 or Return, contains six stages as well: (1) Refusal of the Return, (2) The Magic Flight, (3) Rescue from Without, (4) The Crossing of the Return Threshold, (5) Master of the Two Worlds, and (6) Freedom to Live. (Moore, 36). Looking at the the first part, we see that Meggie hits every stage in order and continues to do so throughout the book. The Call to Adventure is when Dustfinger comes to Mo and Meggie is trying to figure out what is going on. The Refusal of the Call is more of not being able to take the call. Her father refuses to let her know anything and even plans to let her stay at her Aunt Elinor's until Mo figures out what to do. Supernatural Aid is Dustfinger. He is the reluctant helper and he is not of Earth. The Crossing of the First Threshold is when Meggie first enters Capricorn's village. The Belly of the Whale is when she is first captured by Capricorn when trying to find her father. In relation to literature, the significance to archetypes is, "creating myths answers a basic human need and that creating myths is inherent in our thinking process" and  "creates a matrix from which literature emerges historically and psychologically" (Moore, 50). This, in turn, creates the themes, characters , and images that are used today. The same hero monomyth that is used on the Classic Greek and Roman myths can be used on today's young adult literature characters such as 12 year old Meggie.

Other Books by Cornelia Funke:
Novels
    The Thief Lord
    Dragon Rider
    When Santa Fell to Earth
    Igraine the Brave
    Saving Mississippi
    Ghost Knight

MirrorWorld Novels
    Reckless
    Fearless

Inkheart trilogy
    Inkheart
    Inkspell
    Inkdeath

Ghosthunters
    Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost
    Ghosthunters and the Gruesome Invincible Lightning Ghost
    Ghosthunters and the Totally Moldy Baroness!
    Ghosthunters and the Muddy Monster of Doom!

Wild Chicks
  Die Wilden Hühner
  Die Wilden Hühner auf Klassenfahrt
  Die Wilden Hühner — Fuchsalarm
  Die Wilden Hühner und das Glück der Erde
  Die Wilden Hühner und die Liebe
  Die Wilden Hühner — gestohlene Geheimnisse CD-ROM
Picture books
 The Princess Knight
  Pirate Girl
  The Wildest Brother
  Princess Pigsty