Inkheart
First English translation edition cover
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| Author | Cornelia Funke |
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| Original title | Tintenherz |
| Illustrator | Cornelia Funke |
| Cover artist | Carol Lawson & Ian Butterworth |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Series | Inkheart trilogy |
| Genre | Fantasy, Bildungsroman, Mystery |
| Publisher | Germany Cecilie Dressler UK Chicken House United States Scholastic |
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Publication date
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September 23, 2003 |
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Published in English
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June 6, 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 544 pages |
| ISBN | (1st English translation) |
| OCLC | 52783756 |
| Followed by | Inkspell |
Inkheart (German title: Tintenherz) is a 2003 young adult fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke, and the first book of the Inkheart trilogy. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."
Meggie, a girl at the age of 12, sees a stranger staring at her outside her window and tells her father, Mortimer (or Mo, as Meggie calls him), her father invites the stranger in and who introduces himself as Dustfinger. Mo and Dustfinger go to Mo's workshop, where Mo works as a bookbinder. Meggie eavesdrops and hears them talking about unfamiliar people and places, such as a man named Capricorn. The next morning, Mo unexpectedly announces that he and Meggie have to go to Meggie's Aunt Elinor's house where Mo has to fix some books. They bring along their camper where, they eventually find Dustfinger on the road, who climbs on to the camper, journeying with Meggie and Mo to Elinor's house. When they arrive, Elinor seems displeased but lets them in. Her house, like Mo and Meggie's, is full of books. Mo sets off to work and Meggie talks much to Dustfinger, where she is introduced to Dustfinger's pet, Gwin, a marten with horns on top of his head. One day, he puts on a show for her at night, claiming to be an entertainer and a fire-eater. A short while after, Mo is captured by these people with weird names, bringing along with him a book, Inkheart, that this Capricorn is desperate to get his hands on. Meggie and Elinor tell the police, but the police just think they are out of their minds.
A while later, they realize that Dustfinger has left, only to return a short while later. During the period in which Dustfinger is not there, Meggie packs her bag and ventures to find her father, only to be caught by Elinor. Dustfinger returns, and the three plan to venture to Capricorn's village where her father was being held. At arrival, they meet a guard named Basta, who seems to recognize Dustfinger. The three are taken to Capricorn's house where he waits for them. Meggie pulls out the real Inkheart book, which was only there because Elinor had switched Inkheart with another book, making Mo take the wrong book when captured. Elinor and Meggie are thrown into the cell where Mo is being held and they reunite. After this Meggie makes Mo tell the story of why they were there.
A long time ago, when Meggie was two, her father was reading Inkheart to Meggie's mother, Teresa. Mo found out that he had a special gift where he could bring things out of books just by reading aloud, but that came with a price, for everything that comes out of the book, something must go in. So, while reading chapter 7, three of the main characters from the book, Capricorn, Basta, and Dustfinger, come out of the book and into their house. Capricorn tries to fight Mo, but eventually Mo forces them out of his house. When he turns back, Teresa and their two cats that were sitting on her lap were gone and Meggie was crying. He later tried many more times to get his wife out of the book, but his power failed him.
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Wikipedia