into the great unknown

Author : Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Title : The Girl of Ink and Stars
Published : 05/05/2016
Pages : 240
Genre : Children's Fantasy
Publisher : Chicken House

     Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her cartographer father once mapped. When her friend disappears, she volunteers to guide the search. The world beyond the walls is a monster-filled wasteland - and beneath the dry rivers and smoking mountains, a fire demon is stirring from its sleep. Soon, following her map, her heart and an ancient myth, Isabella discovers the true end of her journey: to save the island itself.

 

     This was a book I had seen come up countless times on tumbler. The cover looked so beautiful in all the pictures which is why I decided to go look it up and find out some more. Children's books are not a genre I delve into very often but the blurb captivated me so I thought I would pick a copy up.

     This book carry's some interesting characters with it in the course of the story. Isabella is the daughter of the local cartographer and as such has a passion for maps and all the wonder and amazement that they have within them. For her family, they are much more than just pieces of paper. She comes across as brave and caring despite the events that set her on her adventure. Being friends with the governor's daughter is not that easy of things to deal with on this small island but it's their friendship that is the backbone of the story. Lupe is mostly what you would expect from someone who has grown up with the privilege of her father's position. consequences have little meaning to Lupe and when a careless action on her part leads to the death of another child she finally starts to realize that some things can't be forgiven.

     This is a book that for me lived up to the blurb. There is plenty of action to fill the pages, and I would think that most kids would enjoy this story. As this is the target audience there is nothing too gruesome that takes place. So I would think it would not come across as being too much for them. The myths that play out are the sort that adults tell there kids to keep them inline. Don't go into the wood or some mythical beast will come and eat you up. As you go through the book you come to realize that this is also in its own way a telling of the colonial empire and how the natives of these islands were more often than not seen as less than those who came to conquer.

     For me at least I think it could have done with being a bit longer. It would have given more time to get to know these characters better and as such made me care or them a bit more. This is never more present than at the beginning as there is not much time between meeting our heroines and them setting off on the adventure. I felt this may be more to the fact it's a kids book and as such maybe they prefer to just get straight to it.

     Overall though it's an enjoyable read and at two hundred and forty pages it only took me a morning to read. I also liked how in the board on each page it's decorated with symbols and drawings from maps. I would imagine most children would find this an enjoyable book.