INKHEART, by Cornelia Funke, translated from the German by Anthea Bell; Scholastic/Chicken House; 544 pages; $19.95.
Twelve-year-old Meggie discovers that when her father, Mo, reads aloud, the characters of the book actually come to life.
Meggie's mother has mysteriously disappeared, and Meggie and her father have been moving from place to place to avoid vicious Capricorn and his attendant, Basta, who came from the book, "Inkheart." The two men have collected and destroyed all copies of the book so they can't be read back into their own fiction-world.
Capricorn wants his friend and cohort, Shadow, to be brought to life, and he knows that Mo can give him the treasures that remain in all the kingdoms of yore.
However, Dustfinger, their fire-eating friend, wants to return to the world from which he was snatched. He betrays Meggie and Mo and bibliophile Great-aunt Elinor, trying to get their copy of "Inkheart."
When Capricorn steals the book and kidnaps Meggie, Mo and Dustfinger collaborate to rescue the girl — her father hoping for her safety and Dustfinger wanting to be read back into his world. "This world will be the death of me. It's too fast, too crowded, too noisy. If I don't die of homesickness I shall starve to death. I don't know how to make a living. . . . I'm like a fish out of water," he says.
In breathtaking chapters the author propels readers to a deserted, burned-out town controlled by Capricorn. The surrounding villagers realize his treachery: "The devil's village, the accursed village, even the snakes avoid it. The walls of the church are painted with blood and Black Jackets, who are really ghosts and carry fire in their pockets, haunt the street. You only have to get near them and you go up in smoke — whoosh!"
All the people fear for their lives but appear helpless. Even the police look away from his evildoing. Capricorn intimidates them with threats to their families and then boasts, "He has three small children, right? It ought to be compulsory for all policemen to have small children. That one was a pushover!"
Meggie finds she has the same talent as her father — who she fears has been killed — and is coerced to read aloud to save her Great-aunt Elinor and a servant who, she discovers, is really her own mother.
"Inkheart" has all the elements of a top-notch high fantasy: parallel themes of good and evil, glimpses of the "other-world" and truly convincing characters. Meggie, Mo and Elinor are likeable protagonists, each wearing the qualities of this real world, while Dustfinger has a selfish demeanor balanced by a caring heart that often interferes with his motive to return to his own fiction-world. He, by the way, ends up with the only remaining copy of the book "Inkheart" and the reader knows that he has fulfilled his time here, only waiting to find someone to read him back into his world. The question remains, will he turn up on Mo's doorstep soon with the book?
Other strong characters round out the story, for example, Fenoglio, the duty-bound author of "Inkheart" who tries to write a new ending to the story. Readers will be amazed at Magpie (that's what everyone calls her), who is Capricorn's mother, and Tinker-Bell, the fairy from Peter Pan who Meggie brings to life. She turns out to be an irascible fairy-brat!
The author's pacing is unswerving and much credit must be given to a careful translation where the descriptions and dialogue hold true — which isn't always the case in translated fiction. As a foreshadowing detail, each chapter begins effectively with a short passage from classics including "Watership Down," "The BFG," "The Jungle Book" and "The Wind in the Willows."
Funke lives in Hamburg, Germany, has written more than 40 books for young readers and is an accomplished illustrator. Her fiction was virtually unknown in the United States until last year with the publication of "Thief Lord." That book won many international awards. It reached the top of the New York Times Bestseller List soon after its release in America and was chosen by the Independent Booksellers as an award winner. "Thief Lord" earned the Batchelder Award for the best-translated children's book of the year.
My prediction is that "Inkheart" will make it two in a row for Cornelia Funke.