Amulet: The Stonekeeper

Module 10, SLIS 5420

Summary

Emily and her family move to a new, spooky house after her father dies in a car accident. Emily and her brother, Navin, discover an amulet in a hidden room of the house formerly occupied by their great grandfather, Silas Charnon. A mysterious, ghostlike entity seems to watch them. Strange sounds in the night entice their mother into caverns below the house, where she is swallowed by an evil creature. The amulet begins to speak to Emily, telling her what she must do to save the ones she loves from evil. Can the amulet save her and her family? Will the power it gives her extract a terrible price?

Bibliographic Information

Kibuishi, Kazu. Amulet: The Stonekeeper. Graphix, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-439-84680-6

My Thoughts

This is a nice introduction to a new series. I do not know if it appeared anywhere before this, but the chapters are well-organized and they space the background and current action well. Most of the story is told through the illustrations and they do a very good job, though the sounds expressed are rather unconventional and can be distracting because of this. The panels take a little getting used to because of their arrangement. Some go down, others go across. Figuring this out is fairly intuitive. The illustrations are very rich in color and tone. The book ends with a cliffhanger that leaves the reader wanting more.

Reviews

Gr 4 Up. Hurrying to pick up her brother, Emily and her parents have a tragic accident, and her father dies. After this dark beginning, the story skips forward two years to when the remaining family members are forced to move to an ancestral house in a small town. Rumored to be haunted, it is unkempt and forbidding. The first night there, Emily's mother goes down to the basement to investigate a noise and doesn't return. The kids search for her and discover a doorway into another world, where their mother has been swallowed by a monster and is being taken away. An amulet that Emily found in the house tells her that together they can save her, but her brother isn't so sure that this voice can be trusted. Still, what other choice do they have in this strange place? Gorgeous illustrations with great color bring light to this gloomy tale. Filled with excitement, monsters, robots, and mysteries, this fantasy adventure will appeal to many readers, but it does have some truly nightmarish elements.
Rutherford, Dawn. School Library Journal. January 1, 2008.

Kibuishi, the creator of the action-packed Daisy Kutter series, sets his sights on a slightly younger crowd here. This first volume in the new Amulet graphic novel series introduces Emily, who has relocated to a strange house in the woods, where she finds a magical amulet left behind by her great grandfather. Soon after, she and her brother engage in a wild adventure to learn the secrets of the amulet and save their mother. Emily is as?nbsp;high-spirited a heroine as you are likely to find, and, propelled by uncluttered visuals,?nbsp;her?nbsp;action-packed adventure sequences move at an exciting clip. However, there?nbsp;are?nbsp;also dark elements in the tale the gut-wrenching opening?nbsp;in which?nbsp;Emily loses her father in a car accident. the autumnal tones of the animation-like art, and the ambiguous agenda of the amulet itself.?nbsp;Part fantasy (anthropomorphized animals, elves) and part manga (transforming robots, tentacled monsters), this volume?nbsp;has much to appeal to readers, though?nbsp;they may be in for a more emotionally complex read than expected.
Karp, Jesse. Booklist. December 1, 2007.

Awards

Surrey Schools' Book of the Year Award (British Columbia)

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults

Suggestions for Use in Library

This book has action, it has mystery (regarding the origin of the amulet and the fate of Emily's great grandfather, and it has a quest for saving the mother. All of these are great motivators for reluctant readers and teachers and librarians can use it for that purpose.