Inkheart

• Genre: Fiction; middle-grade fantasy/adventure
• Originally Published: 2003
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 780L; grades 6-8
• Structure/Length: 59 named chapters; approx. 560 pages; approx. 15 hours, 35 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Young Meggie is enthralled by stories, but she never expected a powerful antagonist to appear in living form right out of the pages of a book. Now Meggie and her bookbinder father Mo must face the evil Capricorn and the threat he brings to their world.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence; death; infrequent profanity

Cornelia Funke, Author

• Bio: Born in 1958 in Germany; early career as a social worker; later began illustrating and then writing books for children and young adults; one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world (2005); has lived in Los Angeles and Tuscany, Italy
• Other Works: The Thief Lord (2002); Inkspell (2005); Inkdeath (2008); The Glass of Lead and Gold (2018); Pan’s Labyrinth (2019)
• Awards: ALA Notable Children’s Books (2004)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Power of Literature
• The Complexities of Loyalty
• Maturity Through the Hero’s Journey

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Understand the tropes of fantasy novels; identify how these tropes function in familiar ways in Inkheart.
• Analyze and discuss the conventions of the hero’s journey and identify the ways in which Meggie conforms to the role of the hero.