Amulet: Book One - The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

Summary: After a family tragedy, Emily, Navin, and their mother move to an old ancestral home to start a new life. On the family's very first night in the mysterious house, a strange noise lures them into the basement, where Em and Navin's mom is kidnapped by a humongous, tentacled creature and dragged down behind the basement door.

The kids give chase down a twisty spiral stairway and find themselves in a strange and magical world below. Most surprising of all, it seems that their great-grandfather, who was an inventor and puzzle maker, was there before them – and he's left some unfinished business.

Now it's up to Em and Navin to figure out how to set things right and save their mother's life! (Goodreads)

Before I start reviewing I'm just going to let you know that Amulet is a graphic novel. I've only read Batman ones so this was an interesting experience fore me.

Emily loses her father in a car accident while on there way to pick up her brother Navin. Two Years later they move to a kind of small town that a kind of have a bone to pick with. 28,000? Exactly 28,0000? The author could have come up with something more interesting than that. Anyways... they move to this house that was in the family. It once belonged to her great grandfather who mysteriously disappeared after his wife died. Her mom explains on how he was a puzzle maker when actually she felt he made more toys.

This explanation happens after Emily wanders around and finds this sort of library that has some robotic toys. There is this book in the center and under it is a hand print. She puts her hand there and Navin oddly says she shouldn't (he says this a lot). It's kind of weird how he acts. He's a little too worried for a little kid. So she gets a little bit of blood drawn from her and this necklace with yes the amulet comes out. She takes it and head out. All that time there was this blob thingy looking a t her and a person as well in the shadows.

The amulet decided to talk to her and tell her to keep her family close. Next thing you know there is a sound coming from downstairs. Her mother investigates and it's this tentacle thingy that decides to eat her.... Not really. She's just in it's stomach which I don't get. Maybe it's going to eat her slowly? Ugh. It probably was going to eat her later and take her home. (Like that's any better)

Okay. So they go into this alternate universe and she uses the amulet to save her brother from this thingy. She still needs to save her mother but in the meanwhile she is saved by this big robot who ends up being.... a small pink bunny robot. There's a bunch of this at this mansion. There she talks to her great grand father who was thought to have disappeared. He gives her a choice to become the Stonekeeper or not. The risk if she doesn't is her mother's life.

This graphic novel is a little faced pace for me... not in the good fast paced. It doesn't explain as much as it should. It's kinda sloppy in the the writing is. Not that it's bad writing but it is just the way it is written in the thought bubble looks like a kid wrote it. The car accident where her father dies was not very convincing. I mean it wasn't really dramatic enough. It's also not my age range which is probably why I'm not raving about it. It should be a good story for kids in Elementary I think. That's what it seems to be targeted for. But it has to be a little more of the younger Elementary kids because I don't think it would be stimulating enough for say 5th graders.

Comments

back to top