book review about amulet

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The stonekeeper: amulet, book 1, common sense media reviewers.

Tragic events kick off action-packed graphic novel fantasy.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Set in a mysterious fantasy world, The Stonekeeper

Even in the aftermath of tragedy, families can sti

Even after having witnessed the death of her fathe

The story opens with the death of a parent in a ca

There is no sexual content in The Stonekeeper.

This is no drinking, drugs or smoking in The Stone

Parents need to know that The Stonekeeper is the first book in the Amulet series of fantasy graphic novels. Its prologue features the death of a parent, which might upset some younger readers. A parent is swallowed by a grotesque tentacled monster. Another older character dies later on. Children are…

Educational Value

Set in a mysterious fantasy world, The Stonekeeper bears little resemblance to real life, but it does offer lessons about bravery, commitment, and family loyalty.

Positive Messages

Even in the aftermath of tragedy, families can stick together. But a commitment to your family's past doesn't mean that you can't find your own way in the world.

Positive Role Models

Even after having witnessed the death of her father, Emily proves to be a brave, resilient girl. She faces great danger in her attempt to rescue her mother. When given the opportunity to kill one of her opponents, she shows mercy and lets him live.

Violence & Scariness

The story opens with the death of a parent in a car crash, which some sensitive readers may find disturbing. Another, secondary character dies of old age. A parent is swallowed and kidnapped by a grotesque, tentacled monster.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

There is no sexual content in The Stonekeeper .

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

This is no drinking, drugs or smoking in The Stonekeeper .

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Stonekeeper is the first book in the Amulet series of fantasy graphic novels. Its prologue features the death of a parent, which might upset some younger readers. A parent is swallowed by a grotesque tentacled monster. Another older character dies later on. Children are in jeopardy throughout, but they are aided by a number of sympathetic helpers. There is no objectionable sex, language, or substance abuse content.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (8)
• Kids say (28)

Based on 8 parent reviews

Amazing Read

Great for boys and girls looking to move past cptn. undies, dog man, what's the story.

After their father is killed in a car accident, Emily and her younger brother, Navin, move to their mother's ancestral home, a creepy edifice seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Strange noises lure them to the basement, and Emily's mom is kidnapped by a gruesome tentacled monster. If the children hope to rescue her, they must make new friends, face many dangers, and learn more about the strange amulet that Emily finds.

Is It Any Good?

THE STONEKEEPER provides a propulsive start for the Amulet series of graphic novels. The tragedy that opens the book sets a somber tone, but once Emily and Navin begin to explore their new home, the tone lightens even as the action becomes more frenetic. Author/illustrator Kazi Kibuishi has a flair for appealing character design, rich backgrounds, and well-choreographed confrontations. Little in the plot is resolved, but the stage is set for further grand adventures.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about graphic novels. Why are some stories especially suited for comics while others work best as prose?

Why do some many quest fantasies feature enchanted pieces of jewelry?

In the wake of a family tragedy, why do some people want to move to a new location?

Book Details

• Author : Kazu Kibuishi
• Illustrator : Kazu Kibuishi
• Genre : Fantasy
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Brothers and Sisters , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires , Robots
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Graphix
• Publication date : January 1, 2008
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 17
• Number of pages : 192
• Available on : Paperback
• Last updated : July 12, 2017

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Amulet is currently an eight book series of children’s graphic novels with a ninth (and final) book on the way. This review will cover the overall story as it flows through the first eight books. That said, there may be spoilers for the first couple volumes since certain plot points are pivotal to the development of the story.

When their mother is kidnapped by a strange creature, siblings Emily and Navin follow her to another world armed only with a telepathic glowing necklace. In this new world, they discover a dying uncle, a robot rabbit, a devastating war, and a band of rebels awaiting their command. As the story progresses, Emily hones her magic skills, Navin trains to be a fighter, and their circle of friends and family grows. Each book in the series concludes a story arc which works as a single chapter in the overarching narrative.

Content Guide

Violence/Scary Images: Amulet is a graphic novel series for children, and its objectionable content is limited. The characters are involved in a war, but the violence is on par with Disney movies. Blood is usually relegated to a trickle down the face. While death does occur on and off the page, nothing is graphically portrayed. Disturbing scenes are present, even without the gore. Some characters become possessed by amulets, and others die in heartbreaking ways. I suggest an adult read through before giving it to younger children.

Language : Profanity is virtually nonexistent with one possible h*** or d*** per book, if that.

Drug/Alcohol References : At one point in the story, the children go into a bar to meet someone, and their mother is appalled. This situation is played off with humor, and no one is depicted drunk, even though a couple glasses of beer are shown.

The bar in question, or as Navin insists, “the drinking hole”

Sexual Content: None

Other Negative Content : Some minor characters act prejudiced toward a friendly elf due to their negative experiences with hostile elves in the past.

Spiritual Content: None

Positive Content : Amulet is full of positive content. Emily and Navin leap into another world in Book One to save their kidnapped mother. When they learn this fantastical place needs their help, they stay to save it. Character motivations are rarely selfish; when they are, they receive immediate negative consequences. The fight between good and evil is physically seen in the war, but also glimpsed in the characters themselves. Villains become allies, and heroes struggle with inner darkness.

Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper was published in 2008, and Book Eight: Supernova, followed suit ten years later. Within that time, the series gained a following. A Google search of “Amulet fanart” yields a variety of artists and different takes on characters, including romantic entanglements for platonic relationships. This plethora of original art could be due to the playful character dynamics and incredible illustrations of the books themselves. Amulet practically begs its readers to draw it.

The art is a gorgeous blend of Japanese manga and Western style illustration. Kazu Kibuishi is a fourth generation Japanese American, which allows him a unique perspective in this regard. His character designs showcase personality through exuberant facial expressions and creative clothing. Each volume brings new faces, and readers will find themselves yearning to know more about random people in the background of the pictures.

The real place Kibuishi’s art shines is in its fantasy landscapes. Two page spreads surprise and delight with unorthodox color schemes and fluid shapes. He treats readers to a world they never could have imagined, yet can understand. For example, trees are not usually pink with faces, but in context, this image makes sense.

Remaking the Trope

At first glance, the plot of Amulet sounds like an over-done children’s cartoon. Brother and sister find a strange necklace, discover a magical world, make new friends, fulfill a prophecy, and go home. Admittedly, the first book has the feel of a cliché, but everyone has to start somewhere. Emily in Book One is not the same Emily in Book Eight. She transforms from a reclusive, angry girl into a young lady dealing with her inner (and outer) demons. Readers are able to watch her grow and change into the hero she could never be in the first book.

The plot itself holds the same intentions. The Stonekeeper starts as a simple adventure, but later volumes morph into a child-friendly war epic, complete with tragic backstories and morally questionable decisions made by heroes and villains alike. When the party consists solely of Emily, Navin, and a pink metal rabbit, the events are limited to what these three can accomplish alone. However, as new characters and places are introduced, everyone discovers their strengths and teams become specialized. Readers are graced with seeing this conflict from multiple sides, including mech fighting, space travel, fights to the death, and more.

Note Navin in the mech while Emily is on the ground with her magical crew.

Redemption Done Right

Since this is a review of the series as a whole, there is a recurring theme which must be included. However, expect slight spoilers for Books One, Two, and part of Three. Many books, movies, and TV shows include a redemption arc – some part of the story where the villain turns good. However, some of these recent so-called redemption arcs follow an unsettling trend. The redeemed character usually dies. This seems to defeat the purpose. If you are really redeemed, why do you have to sacrifice yourself to prove it?

Amulet breaks this trope by showing us what a real redemption arc can look like. Trellis is the elf prince, heir to a throne of corruption and bloodshed. Throughout Books One and Two, he tries to destroy Emily in an act of rebellion against his father. In fact, Emily’s amulet advises her to kill him before he can finish them off. However, the girl spares his life, leaving him vulnerable and confused. When his father sends assassins to kill him, Trellis decides to trust Emily’s goodness and joins her cause.

The former prince does not look for opportunities to die for his crimes. Instead, he spends the rest of the series saving innocents and undoing the damage caused by his father. When Emily struggles with her own darkness, he reminds her of the strength of doing what is right. He does not try to sacrifice himself for the greater good, for he has no need. Trellis understands the truth of forgiveness, a truth Christians should feel in their soul.

Amulet may be marketed toward children, but it is a delight for all ages. Its beautiful art is something out of a dream while its characters are rooted in the trials and growth of reality. If you want a clean story with some predictable aspects but also like to be surprised, Amulet will not disappoint.

The following video is a trailer for the eighth book. It is the perfect way to introduce the series, but beware of spoilers.

+ Gorgeous art + Complex characters + Lots of secondary characters + Pleasant redemption arc

- Plot can be cliché at times - Characters take some time to develop - First book does not feel very original

The Bottom Line

The Amulet series starts cliché, but develops into a well-rounded story with empathetic characters. It is a fun, clean adventure for young and old.

Courtney Floyd

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Amulet Book 1: The Stonekeeper Review

Loss & growth explored.

Amulet Book 1: The Stonekeeper

The award-winning Amulet series, written and drawn by Kazu Kibuishi, begins when Emily, her brother Navin, and her mother are transported to an alternate reality from their ancestral home. In this alternate world, Alledia, Emily discovers she is destined to possess a powerful stone that will guide her and give her powers to navigate through her new environment.

As with all of Kazu Kibuishi’s work, Amulet is beautifully drawn. Drawn with thin lines and filled in with soft, dreamlike tones, every page of Amulet looks like a painting.

Similar to other graphic novels targeted to younger audiences, Amulet does not shy away from difficult topics like those of loss and the necessity of growing up. Within the first five pages, Emily loses her father in a car accident, watching with her mother as her father plummets to his death over the edge of a cliff. The introduction is heart wrenching.

As the story progresses, Emily and Navin are forced to go through a series of trials that are just as difficult, including the abduction of their mother. From the loss of their father, the abduction of their mother, the change in worlds and the appropriation of the stone, Amulet is very much a graphic bildungsroman. Emily and Navin, through a series of changes, must become adult

With this being said, Amulet is properly targeted towards a younger audience. As with all other fantasy books, reading Amulet requires a suspension of disbelief in order to enter Alledia with Emily and Navin. Within Alledia, painting-like realism is combined with cartoony characters like Miskit the pink rabbit and Morrie the robot – cute figures that may appeal more to children than adult As a result of placing these fantastical characters before the backdrop of a real, breathing world, a vivid imagination is first required to become immersed in the story.

The Amulet series is beautiful. Kibuishi’s artwork is amazing and Alledia gets progressively more interesting as one gets further into the serie You must first make that initial leap into the world, and the story will take you along with it as Emily and Navin navigate their new surrounding

Final Thoughts

Mia, an acclaimed writer, graces online and print spaces like CGMagazine and Hart House Review with her stories and articles. Honored with scholarships from Tatamagouche Centre & Writers’ Trust, her novel "Shade" debuted in 2016 via Inanna Publications. 2022 saw her first children's book, co-authored with her son, William.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, CGMagazine may earn a commission. However, please know this does not impact our reviews or opinions in any way. See our ethics statement.

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Review of Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

March 15, 2018

Being the oldest child of two and having witnessed the death of her father at a young age, Emily Hayes is accustomed to taking on the responsibilities that go along with taking care of her family. Now, Emily faces her toughest decision yet when trying to protect the people she loves: to trust the mysterious amulet, or take her little brother and face the unknown creatures of Alledia on her own. With the help of her grandfather’s robots and her little brother, Navin, Emily is determined to save her mother from an octopus-like creature that roams the land of Alledia.   

Themes: Tragedy and loss, Trust, Power, Determination, Leadership, Family   

Amulet : The  Stonekeeper  by Kazu Kibuishi is the first novel of seven in this suspenseful series. The book begins with a sudden car crash and the death of David Hayes, Emily’s father. Kibuishi includes powerful and detailed imagery that enhances the emotion of the novel; for example, the opening scene includes dramatic imagery of the Hayes’ car crash, and her father’s tragic fall to his death after he is unable to get out of the car in time to save himself. While the novel’s main characters are young kids and the reading level is elementary, the plot is complex and includes many life lessons, such as death and loss, conquering fear, mind over matter, the effects of power, determination, and the love for one’s family.   

Readers will enjoy the book’s tremendous depth and powerful scenes of action, adventure, tragedy, mystery, and love. The combination of Kibuishi’s vibrant, well-developed characters and his complex plot will cause the reader to get lost in the pages! The author includes both suspenseful imagery and content that keeps the reader engaged and excited at every moment. The text is easy-to-read, as the language is fairly simple and there are never too many words on one page. The author also includes several images that do not contain text, but these illustrations are so detailed that it is easy to understand what the author is trying to portray. In fact, it is Kibuishi’s placement of images that contain no text in moments of action and suspense that makes  Amulet: The  Stonekeeper   a true page-turner!   

Uses in the Classroom  

Character Development:  Amulet  serves as a wonderful example for a unit on writing skills that focuses on topics such as character development. The characters in  Amulet  each have their own unique set of complexities and depth. Kibuishi does an excellent job building on the character’s individualities, as well as their relationships with each other throughout the novel. As a reader, you can clearly connect each character’s background story to their personality. The way they grow and develop throughout the novel makes sense. Ask students to create a comic strip about themselves, or if they would like to create a brand-new character. This will allow students to think about and analyze why their characters are the way they are? What traits do they exhibit and why?   

Creative Writing: This novel also offers great inspiration for creative writing. Using Kibuishi’s book as an example, students can create their own fictitious land and develop a story behind it.   

Leadership Project: A core theme in the novel that is reflected through Emily Hayes is leadership. Consider what strengths she exhibits that make her a leader. For a class project idea: Have students interview 8-10 people in their lives and ask them to describe a specific time when they saw the student displaying their strengths and good characteristics. In other words, have the interviewees recall a story when the student was doing their best! Then, have students write a short reflection paper on what they heard. Ask students to think about the following questions: Do you agree with what you heard? What are your strengths? Think about how you use these strengths in your daily life when interacting with others?   

Conclusion:   

Follow Emily Hayes through Alledia on this suspenseful fantasy adventure that keeps the reader on their toes!  Amulet: The  Stonekeeper   will have elementary readers hooked on this series and is a perfect introduction into the world of fantasy quest stories.    

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Amulet: the stonekeeper (book one), reviewed by pragnya, 13.

July 28, 2022 By Pragnya HG

I especially enjoyed how Amulet managed to subvert popular fantasy tropes like that of "the chosen one," while not drawing away from their core themes. Every character has their own quirks and I particularly enjoyed Miskit’s characterization as the alluded-to most faithful member of Charon House. Amulet also does a masterful job of using “show not tell,” while also having a world that is easy to understand. Using elements of drama, suspense, dialogue and character expressions, I found myself getting rapidly attached to the premise, as well as everything inside it. The twins’ personalities found me rereading the book constantly finding more of myself and people I know, their dynamic with each other very relatable and refreshing.

With vibrant character design, succinct world-building, and a fascinating narrative, Amulet is a graphic novel that is easy to latch onto but very hard to let go of.

Amulet: The Stonekeeper  by Kazu Kibushi. Graphix, 2008. Buy the book here and help support  Stone Soup  in the process!

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The final installment of the 'Amulet' graphic novel series is about to be released

Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

Fans have been waiting more than five years for this book, with no indication of when it would come out. It hits bookstores on Tuesday.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

And there's another highly anticipated book release this week. The final chapter of the popular "Amulet" graphic novel series hits bookstores tomorrow. "Waverider" is the ninth book in the middle grade series by Kazu Kibuishi. Fans have been waiting more than five years for this. Here's NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento.

ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: The "Amulet" series follows Emily Hayes, a young girl who finds a mysterious amulet in her great-grandfather's house. It unlocks a secret world of elves and dark forces that Emily must fight off. Mars Engle (ph) started reading the graphic novels 14 years ago. She already pre-ordered her copy of "Waverider."

MARS ENGLE: I'm very excited but, like, I think it'll be a little bittersweet. Having followed this for, like, literally two-thirds of my life, it'll be kind of crazy to have it be over.

ZOE SAGAL: Well, I want to see Emily crush that weird guy to the bone because that guy is just - I hate him.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: That's 8-year-old Zoe Sagal (ph). She shares her love of amulet with her mom, Carolyn (ph).

CAROLYN: The elves are separate from the humans, and there's all this kind of internal conflict. And I kind of liked watching those barriers break down. And I like the message that that sends for kids.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: All three fans are dying to know what "Waverider" has in store, but Zoe Sagal is not ready for Emily's story to end. She hopes...

ZOE: There's a to be continued.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News.

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Book Review

Waverider (amulet #9).

• Kazu Kibishi
• Children's Fiction , Fantasy , Graphic Novel , Science Fiction

Readability Age Range

• 10 to 15 years old
• Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic
• #1 New York Times bestselling series; American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults; Children's Choice Book Award Finalist

Year Published

After finally coming to understand the true power of her magical amulet, Emily Hayes must join together with new friends to face the corrupting forces of evil.

Plot Summary

Emily Hayes’ adventure began after her father died in an accident and she, her mom, and her younger brother, Navin, moved into her great-grandfather’s mysterious house.

There, she found a hidden-away magical amulet that began to talk to her. Then her mother was kidnapped by a tentacled monstrosity. And she and her brother were led into an exotic world of magic, elves, robots and talking animals.

All that , however, was only the beginning of the winding, incredible story that unfolded before her. Since then, Emily has found great friends, learned to use her amulet’s power, given battle to a wyvern and an elf assassin, and eventually faced off with even more dangerous dark forces.

The darkest and most deceptive of these foes is that Voice—a whispering, malevolent entity that uses people’s emotions against them. Emily has since come to know it as Ikol. It uses shadows, dark power and half-truths to possess and control.

Emily has learned enough about her amulet’s power to dispel Ikol’s shadow creatures. But it’s time to face off with the greater darkness. She’s not alone: there are other “Stonekeepers” like her. But Ikol and its darkness is a huge powerful force.

This showdown will require that Emily and all her friends—those from her past and present—to rally together to face off with the great threat before them.

Only then can they hope to survive.

Christian Beliefs

There are no directly Christian themes in this book, but there are a number of conflicts between good and evil, truth and lies and light versus darkness that could suggest biblical parallels.

Other Belief Systems

This is a story of magic fantasy mixed with science fiction elements.

[ Spoiler Warning ] Along with the use of magical blasts, curses and what appears to be spiritual possession, for instance, we learn that Ikol is actually a computer program. And his “masters” are a small group of robots. All of that is also tied back into the special stones that Emily and others wield.

There’s also something called “the Void” in the story mix; an alternate spectrum of reality that can be accessed through an individual’s stone. Stonekeepers can channel memories of the past, gain information, battle foes and even alter the past there. However, Ikol is much stronger in the Void, and if a Stonekepper dies in that Void, their physical body is turned to stone.

Authority Roles

Since this book concludes the entire series, there is a plethora of characters who pop up and disappear as their stories resolve. It’s clear that some older characters have a strong influence on the younger characters, but we don’t take a great deal of time to fully get to know them here.

One older character, however, is a Stonekeeper named Vigo who appears to sacrifice his life in an effort to save a young boy by giving himself to a dark entity and disappearing. (We learn later that he didn’t actually die, but he did give up his life as he knew it.)

One character also walks away from a position of great power, realizing that positions of leadership and authority demand a great deal and can sometimes change people in terrible ways. “They would destroy even their friends and family if they believed it would help them succeed,” someone says of that type of corrupted leader.

Emily comes to realize that the forces of darkness use someone’s anger and hatred against them. And though she still pushes back against Ikol and his darkness, she makes a clear decision not to cling to those sorts of heated feelings. “I don’t hate anyone. Not even you,” Emily tells the dark entity. She even encourages Ikol to let go of the things he clings to.

Profanity & Violence

There is no alcohol or profanity in this story. But people are possessed by shadows and then rage against others.

Emily magically casts huge fiery blasts. She turns a library to ash and hits large shadow beasts with the power from her amulet. Large robot ships pummel one another. People possessed by shadow creatures cry out from the painful feelings in their heads. And Stonekeepers turn into giant animals.

Sexual Content

Discussion topics.

Emily makes a choice to turn away from her anger and feelings of hate. How did that help her? Do you think that kind of choice might be helpful in our real world? How do you think someone does that?

Take a look at Psalms 37:8-9. How does this verse encourage us? What does it say that our wrath often leads to? Why is that true?

Have you read the Amulet series? One ongoing part of the story deals with Emily’s ongoing grief over the loss of her dad. Have you ever lost someone close to you? How do you deal with that grief? Have you ever looked to Scripture for guidance with that?

Take a look at Psalm 34:18, Psalm 73:26 and Matthew 5:4. What are these verses saying about how God sees our grief?

Additional Comments

After a five-and-a-half year wait, Waverider (Amulet #9) concludes the long-running Amulet series. And this has been a very popular series indeed, with over 7 million copies of the books in print since 2009.

It should be noted, however, that those who have never read any of previous graphic novels in this winding fantasy/sci-fi series should probably start with an earlier entry, since author Kazu Kibuishi attempts to tie up the many story threads here. And it’s not always easy to follow as a stand-alone book.

Those who do dive in, though, will find a colorful, artistically pleasing story of a resilient girl (and others) fighting against the deceptive ways of evil. Light-focused magic dispels dark shadow creatures that want to infect and possess the innocent.

In that context, then, you can draw some spiritual parallels to biblical stories of sacrifice and love. (One character literally gives his life, for instance, to vanquish a darkness and save others.) The story repeatedly encourages readers to turn away from anger and hate and embrace a life of grace, service and love.

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Review by Bob Hoose

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COUNTDOWN TO THE NEW BOOK!

The highly anticipated thrilling conclusion to the amulet series.

Amulet: Waverider

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A mysterious amulet opens the door to a beautiful but dangerous world of new friends, giant robots, and shadowy enemies.

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Kazu Kibuishi

Kazu Kibuishi is the creator of the #1  New York Times  bestselling Amulet series, which is available in 21 languages. He is also the creator of  Copper , a collection of his popular webcomic that features an adventuresome boy-and-dog pair. He lives and works near San Antonio with his wife, Amy Kim Kibuishi, and their children. 

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Waverider: A Graphic Novel (Amulet #9) Paperback – February 6, 2024

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Part of Series Amulet
• Print length 256 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 3 - 7
• Lexile measure GN520L
• Dimensions 6 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
• Publisher Graphix
• Publication date February 6, 2024
• ISBN-10 0545828651
• ISBN-13 978-0545828659
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the Amulet series:

#1 New York Times bestselling series

American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults

Children's Choice Book Award Finalist

Will Eisner Award Nominee

"Five -- no, three pages into Amulet and you'll be hooked." -- Jeff Smith, creator of BONE

"Stellar artwork, imaginative character design, moody color and consistent pacing." -- Publishers Weekly

"A must for all fantasy fans." -- Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Graphix (February 6, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0545828651
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0545828659
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 - 15 years, from customers
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ GN520L
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
• #4 in Fantasy Manga (Books)
• #7 in Children's Action & Adventure Comics & Graphic Novels
• #21 in Children's Fantasy & Magic Books

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About the author

Kazu kibuishi.

Kazu Kibuishi is the writer and artist of the New York Times Bestselling AMULET graphic novel series, published by Scholastic Graphix. The eighth book in the series, Amulet 8: Supernova, was released in Fall 2018. Kibuishi is also the editor/art director/cover artist of the EXPLORER and FLIGHT Comic Anthologies, and is the cover illustrator of the Harry Potter 15th Anniversary Edition paperbacks from Scholastic. His debut graphic novel, Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, garnered critical acclaim and won a YALSA Best Books for Young Adults Award. His webcomic Copper was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2005 and was later published by Scholastic Graphix as a graphic novel. The book was a Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2009.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kazu moved to the U.S. with his mother and brother when he was a child. He graduated from Film Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2000, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He currently works as a full-time graphic novelist. Kazu lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife and two children.

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deus ex magical girl

Official blog of author D. G. D. Davidson

Comic Book Review: ‘Amulet,’ Volumes 1 to 8

Amulet , written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi. 8 vols. New York: Scholastic | Graphix, 2008 – 2018 .

Amulet may be both the best and the worst thing to happen to children’s comics in the last ten years.

We have here before us one of the most ambitions, beautiful, and arresting graphic novel series for young readers that anyone has ever made. Although it starts with a bang and immediately sucks the reader in, by the time it reaches its not-conclusion in the most recent volumes, the story has petered out, suggesting that its fledgling creator was not quite as prepared to tackle this epic story as he at first appeared to be.

Kazu Kibuishi has few titles to his name; in fact, he’s known for Amulet and almost nothing else. Nonetheless, he was the editor of the Flight anthology, which is still just about the best thing that’s ever happened to comics. Over time, Flight morphed into Explorer, an anthology aimed explicitly at young readers. At a time when so much of fiction for children and youth is designed for political indoctrination, Kibuishi appears to be a man concerned for what children actually need—good, solid stories full of heroes and villains and serious decisions that transcend the fads and fashions and worries of the moment.

That being said, in spite of what are apparently the best intentions, he appears in Amulet to have bitten off more than he can chew.

When Amulet made its debut in 2008, it shot to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, and for good reason. With a unique art style that finds a happy medium between careful detail and the overly simplified “CalArts” style, Kibuishi presents a tale for children that pulls no punches and reads like horror: The first volume opens with a young girl, Emily, watching helplessly as her father falls to his death. Two years later, she moves with her family into the decrepit house once owned by her eccentric great-grandfather; there, she finds a magical amulet, and shortly thereafter, a tentacled abomination grabs her mother and hauls her through a door in the basement. Emily and her brother Navin chase the monster into a parallel world called Alledia, a world full of robots, Rube Goldberg machines, and deadly monsters. Emily’s amulet grants her telekinetic abilities, but it also talks to her, playing games with her mind and constantly tempting her to sell her soul for power.

Although intense for children, that’s seriously good stuff. The first volume of Amulet will leave your fingernails ragged and make your butt sore from sitting on the edge of your seat.

Although unable to equal the raw intensity of Book 1, the subsequent volumes are mostly pretty good. Starting off as a brooding horror, Amulet later settles into a more conventional epic fantasy with steampunk trappings. Emily, Navin, and their mom meet a wide array of characters including elves and furries, all while getting caught in the middle of a war involving kaiju and humongous mecha. Emily gains greater and greater power while also coming increasingly under the influence of the sinister voice that speaks to her through her magical stone.

The great flaw of Amulet is that Kazu Kibuishi is clearly a huge fan of fantasy and science fiction. He has obviously consumed a large number of popular works in these genres, but like other enthusiasts (I am thinking particularly of Christopher Paolini’s Aragon or the late Monty Oum’s RWBY ), he has consumed more works than he has digested. Kibuishi borrows elements form Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, The Last Airbender, and probably a host of other sources, but has not given sufficient thought to how these various elements might fit together.

Throughout the series, a careful reader will notice problems in consistency. For example, midway through the series, we learn that the elvish empire has destroyed a city called Frontera. A couple of volumes later, a handful of protagonists use their wiles to finagle their way onto a commercial airship headed for Frontera—because Kibuishi did not, apparently, consider how a major war and the total destruction of a city might disrupt commercial air traffic.

That particular detail is forgivable, but the series goes completely off the rails at the end of Volume 7. Although the entire series had represented this alien world of Alledia as steampunkish in technology, at the end of the seventh book, the heroes are suddenly boarding a spaceship.

When I read that, I thought Kibuishi was making a major mistake. That he took two full years to release the eighth volume deepened my suspicions that he had written himself into a corner he couldn’t get out of. Nonetheless, I crossed my fingers and held out hope that he knew what he was doing.

He didn’t know what he was doing. I am virtually alone in this (simply look at the glowing reviews on Amazon ), but the eighth and penultimate volume of this series is an unbelievable letdown.

This series has over seven volumes established a particular character as a major villain. The heroine deals with that villain anticlimactically. The series has promised us a major war between a ruthless invading force and a ragged band of rebels. The war ends anticlimactically without a major battle. The characters who blasted off into space were trained mech pilots on their way to pilot mechs in a last stand against implacable invaders. Instead of fighting from their mechs, they spend most of the volume visiting a farm while riding dirt bikes.

There’s a major fight in which many people die—and it happens entirely off the page. That is an astounding blunder for a series that has until now been full to the gills with heavy action.

I honestly don’t know what to make of this. In spite of some plot holes and rammed-together fantasy tropes, Kibuishi seemed, up this point, pretty good at avoiding the kinds of elementary mistakes he blunders into in the eighth book. He promises at the end that Book 9 will finish off the series—though he took a long time to release Book 8, and it’s anybody’s guess when the final volume will appear.

One thing Amulet has regardless of the story is gorgeous, carefully detailed artwork, although that is largely due to Photoshop rather than Kibuishi’s line work. Still, multiple full-page or two-page spreads are arresting with their sweeping views of rugged landscapes, airships, and fantastical cities. The art alone makes Amulet worth it.

Also, in spite of my criticism, this is the kind of series that will make you neglect your obligations: I sat down with all eight books and plowed through the whole thing, forgetting other duties in the meantime. Even the weak penultimate volume still offers a fair amount of entertainment, though it resolves several conflicts without sufficient drama. I will undoubtedly devour the ninth and final volume when it appears, whether I like it or not.

I do recommend this series, but it’s shaping up to have a poorer conclusion than I’d hoped for.

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Author: D. G. D. Davidson

D. G. D. Davidson is an archaeologist, librarian, Catholic, and magical girl enthusiast. He is the author of JAKE AND THE DYNAMO. View all posts by D. G. D. Davidson

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If You Read One Romance This Spring, Make It This One

Our romance columnist recommends three terrific new books, but the one she loves most is Cat Sebastian’s “You Should Be So Lucky.”

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By Olivia Waite

Olivia Waite is the Book Review’s romance fiction columnist. She writes queer historical romance, fantasy and critical essays on the genre’s history and future.

• April 24, 2024

Spring! There’s no better time of year for a baseball romance. We’ll wind up the column with a much-anticipated book by Cat Sebastian, but we lead off with KT Hoffman’s endearing and tender new novel, THE PROSPECTS (Dial, 346 pp., paperback, $18) .

The minor-league baseball player Gene Ionescu is almost living his best life. He’s a professional ballplayer, even if it’s for a minor-league team. He’s transitioned and is generally accepted as the guy he is, even if a trans man still doesn’t have quite the same locker room experience as a cis man. In this liminal space, he makes a finicky distinction between hope — which he exercises as dutifully as a muscle — and actual wanting, which would inevitably lead to disappointment because hasn’t it always?

Enter Luis Estrada, Gene’s former college teammate.

Luis, the son of a major-league star, was drafted before graduation. Now he steals Gene’s place at shortstop and upsets his balance — at least, until they’re forced to room together on a road trip and discover that making out turns their physical chemistry from something destructive into something electric. But dating a teammate is a terrible idea — especially when you’re certain the teammate is going to be called up and will leave you behind.

Except that isn’t quite how it goes. We’re right there with Gene as he struggles with going from almost enough to more than plenty, as he stops letting life happen to him and learns to actually reach for something. Because what if true happiness is right there, and it’s even sweeter than you dreamed?

The difference between wishing for good things and working toward them is precisely where Lily Chu’s THE TAKEDOWN (Sourcebooks Casablanca, 384 pp., $16.99) finds its footing. The diversity consultant Dee Kwan clings to positive thinking through layoffs, microaggressions and familial health challenges. All the while, her mother insists that a positive attitude is more important than any minor speed bump like your parents and grandmother moving in with you or a house that now smells constantly of medicinal weed. Her one true comfort is the online puzzle game where she’s usually first in the rankings.

Then Dee lands a new job, only to find her nearest gaming rival, Teddy, there. Even worse, he’s the son of the C.E.O. whose toxic corporate culture she’s being paid to improve.

Dee fixes upon improving Teddy’s dad’s company as a stand-in for fixing the world (and her own life). Teddy, on the other hand, has detached himself emotionally from his job, bruised by past disappointments. Chu’s couple find their solution in making small but significant changes to what’s immediate and reachable — relationships both romantic and otherwise. What they learn is that effort and hope have to work together: One without the other is never enough.

But sometimes there is no hope. Illness worsens, accidents strike, you lose people you love. It’s inevitable, as Cat Sebastian’s blunt, beautiful midcentury historical makes clear: “Unless a couple has the good fortune to get hit by the same freight train, their story ends in exactly one way.”

At the start of YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY (Avon, 382 pp., paperback, $18.99) , the journalist Mark Bailey is only 16 months out from the death of his partner. He’s coasting. It’s only when he’s assigned to write about a flailing baseball player on the sad-sack New York Robins that he finds something to connect to: “What’s happening to Eddie O’Leary is an end . That’s something Mark knows about; that’s something Mark can write about.”

Eddie, “a wad of bad ideas rolled into the approximate shape and size of a professional baseball player,” doesn’t know why he is suddenly terrible at a game he loves. He’s lonely and new to the city and shunned by the teammates he bad-mouthed to the press. He’s grateful for Mark’s attention even though he knows it’s an assignment, and he’s quick to notice all the little kind impulses Mark would die rather than admit to. Their romance is like watching a Labrador puppy fall in love with a pampered Persian cat, all eager impulse on one side and arch contrariness on the other.

People think the ending is what defines a romance, and it does, but that’s not what a romance is for. The end is where you stop, but the journey is why you go. Whether we’re talking about love, baseball or life itself, Sebastian’s book bluntly scorns measuring success merely by end results: “The crowd is hopeful, but it isn’t the kind of hope that comes with a fighting chance. It’s a hope that doesn’t need success to validate it. It’s something like affection, maybe with a bit of loyalty mixed in.”

Hoping, loving are things you do for their own sake, to mark being a human among other humans. Or as Eddie puts it: “Sometimes you want to look at a guy and say: Well, he’s f——-, but he’s trying.”

I can think of no better summary of why we do any art. If you read one romance this spring, make it this one.

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You Are Here by David Nicholls review – a well-mapped romance

A midlife couple take a hike through the Lake District in this witty and likable crowd-pleaser

David Nicholls enjoys a bit of structural scaffolding. In his debut, 2003’s student romance Starter for Ten , it is the TV quiz University Challenge. A European Interrail itinerary forms a backdrop to empty-nester marital crisis in Us , and the love story One Day, which has sold more than 5m copies and is now a global Netflix hit , is made up of 20 years of St Swithin’s Days. His sixth novel, You Are Here, is pinned to geographical locations: a well-planned hike through the Lake District, where route-specific section headings – “Day One: St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge”, “Day Two: Ennerdale Bridge to Borrowdale” – map out another ferociously likable romance.

Michael, 42, a bearded geography teacher from York, is walking 200 miles across Britain in order not to think about his recent divorce. His concerned friend Cleo gathers a small party to accompany him for the first few days, including her old friend Marnie, 38, a copy editor, also divorced, living in Herne Hill. Marnie’s friends have all married and moved out of London. Working from home, she is seriously isolated, bantering with household objects or “listlessly foraging on social media”. Loneliness brings shame, though, and when her TV’s streaming device produces a What a Year! slideshow from her photos involving closeups of ingrown hairs and dry-cleaning receipts, she forces herself to accept Cleo’s invitation as “the kind of potentially awful experience she needed”.

Matchmaker Cleo also invites a triathlete called Tess for Michael, and a handsome pharmacist, Conrad, for Marnie. But Tess cancels, as does Cleo’s husband, so the party consists of Cleo and her taciturn teenage son, with Marnie, Michael and Conrad. Distracted by Conrad’s looks, Marnie barely registers Michael’s solid appeal, despite neon signs flashing at the reader: “A low voice, slight accent, a jumper, beard and scruffy hair that might all have been home-knitted.” Kicking pebbles by a lake, just before they set off, he hands her a stone. “Nothing flash. Understated. Classic.” You’d think Cleo would have earmarked the incredibly decent nice guy rather than a vapid pharmacist for her best friend, but had she done so there would be no plot. Bright, bookish Marnie therefore initially pursues Conrad, who isn’t very smart and doesn’t like books, but loves Formula One. What follows, told in alternating narratives by Marnie and Michael, involves witty conversation, weather, overnight stops, mild drunken escapades and tugged heartstrings.

Nicholls knows how to make unpromising characters appealing. Michael is cut from the same sturdy cloth as Douglas, the biochemist narrator of Us. He is practical, witty, self-deprecating and liable to feel foolish. At one point, forced to eat alone in a romantic hotel, his “face set in the expression of someone who has tripped on a paving stone but is incorporating it into their walk”. Marnie, meanwhile, is doggedly relatable. Exhausted, flirting fiercely with Conrad, she wonders if it’s possible to “kittenishly throw up”. Backstories are gently woven: unremarkable childhoods, how their marriages fell apart, the arc of their careers. Then everyone else goes home, and we are left with Marnie, Michael, their growing sexual chemistry and Britain’s spectacular landscapes.

Nicholls’s novels often confound narrative expectations – most notably with the shock ending of One Day – but there are few surprises here. Short, pacy chapters are energised by a trail mix of jolly headings: in one section, playlist songs that Marnie and Michael share – “Don’t Speak by No Doubt (1996)”, “No Limit by 2 Unlimited (1992)”. Droll signposting aside, we are following the Jane Austen map of romantic plotting: two wounded but complementary souls, initial indifference, misdirected affections, growing attraction, misunderstandings, obstacles, hope and resolution.

In less expert hands this could feel almost absurdly formulaic. That it doesn’t is down to Nicholls’s extraordinary ability to capture the absurdity of modern life in pithy textural details. An inn where “real-ale drinkers snored and farted, fibreglass duvets billowing like sails”, has a shower like “a kettle poured onto the back of his neck”. A pillow is “filled with something fibrous, asbestos perhaps”; Michael’s hair has a “permanent exasperated air”. Almost every page contains these gems, and so the experience of reading involves endless nods of recognition that generate a tender, reassuring bond between author and reader. In the end, Nicholls’s novels all essentially say the same thing: yes, life is a bit cruel but it’s OK because we’re in this together. Bad things happen – people drop down dead in this book, too – but there are ancient rock formations, pubs serving fish and chips, and decent, plucky people falling in love in hiking boots. If You Are Here was an animal, it would be a mildly limping labrador: adorable, very British, poignant but plucky, and certain to heal.

Towards the end, Marnie tells Michael that Cleo warned her he was “wry”. “At least I wasn’t whimsical,” he says. The line between wry and whimsical can be perilous, but Nicholls stays on the right side. He is also a screenwriter, most recently with the adaptation of One Day, and it is skilful dialogue – Marnie and Michael communicate in witty Netflix-ready exchanges – that keeps everything on track.

There is satisfaction to be taken from this midlife redemption tale, not least because it fills a gap: Nicholls’s novels now cover love and marriage across every age bracket from teens to mid-50s. It may not be challenging – unlike Austen’s Persuasion, quoted in the epigraph, it offers neither visceral desperation nor pent-up agonies – but for many it will be a comforting antidote to the grimness of our grim world, a crowd-pleaser and, surely, a TV hit-to-be.

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How our treatment of animals has changed — and hasn’t — in 150 years

‘our kindred creatures’ takes readers through the history of the animal rights movement.

It was a “revolution in kindness,” we read in “ Our Kindred Creatures: How Americans Came to Feel the Way They Do About Animals .” That’s how Bill Wasik, the editorial director of the New York Times Magazine, and his wife, the veterinarian Monica Murphy, describe the animal welfare movement, launched in 1866 after the Civil War when Henry Bergh, an American diplomat, founded the ASPCA, the first animal protection organization in the United States.

This well-researched book is an enlightening if somewhat rambling survey of how our treatment of animals has changed over the past century and a half. It is also, frustratingly, a testament to how much has stayed the same.

The story Wasik and Murphy tell begins on the streets of New York, where workhorses forced to haul overloaded carts were routinely whipped by their owners, and dog and cock fights were staged for gambling and entertainment. Such public displays of cruelty offended the new urban elite, who were increasingly taking dogs and cats into their homes as pets. Those who had fought slavery now found other objects for their liberating zeal. The crusade for animal welfare, the authors tell us, was a small part of a larger ethical awakening that swept the nation after its fratricidal bloodbath. Within a year of the founding of the ASPCA, New York state had enacted an anti-cruelty law, and the organization was given the jurisdiction to enforce it. By 1871, Wasik and Murphy write, eight of the nation’s 10 largest cities had their own SPCAs, all of them granted legal powers by their respective states.

No one surpassed Bergh in sheer zeal and theatricality. Daily, the rail-thin son of a German shipping magnate took to the streets of Manhattan to command coach drivers to stop beating their horses, and to haul abusive butchers off to court. The Daily Herald compared Bergh to the inquisitor Torquemada, and cartoonists lampooned the sallow-faced activist with a drooping mustache as a sanctimonious sniveler. By contrast, the New-York Tribune (owned by the vegetarian and reformer Horace Greeley) editorialized that Bergh’s crusade deserved “the approval of all right thinking people.”

The authors dedicate an entertaining chapter to Bergh’s clash with circus magnate P.T. Barnum, who displayed a menagerie of exotic creatures in his American Museum, a five-story emporium in downtown Manhattan, which included hippos and electric eels, assorted snakes, and “the Learned Seals, ‘Ned’ and ‘Fanny.’”

While “Bergh had not ranked animal exhibitions highly, if at all, in his tallies of the worst offenders,” we read, he did draw a line at Barnum’s feeding boa constrictors live rabbits, a display of nature’s innate cruelty that he feared would erode the moral character of the young people who witnessed it. When Barnum went into the circus business after his museum burned down in 1865, Bergh focused on circuses’ mistreatment of animals, objecting to the use of sharpened bullhooks to train elephants. The Barnum and Bailey Circus, he declared, “should not be patronized by respectable and humane citizens.”

Instead of resisting Bergh and his irksome crusade, Barnum shrewdly forged an unlikely friendship with his nemesis and eventually joined the board of his local SPCA chapter in Bridgeport, Conn. Whether this marked a sincere late-life conversion or a publicity stunt is hard to say. But Barnum’s public embrace of Bergh and animal rights helped to sway opinion at a critical moment.

Meanwhile, bison were being slaughtered to the edge of extinction on the Great Plains; passenger pigeons, whose massive flocks once darkened American skies, were wiped out in a matter of decades by hunters, as were Carolina parakeets and other birds decimated for feathers to adorn women’s hats. The Audubon Society was established in 1886 to help safeguard imperiled species.

Fashion could be cruel to animals, but so too could science. The authors introduce Caroline Earle White, a Philadelphia Quaker converted to Catholicism. White channeled her religious belief in the sanctity of life to the founding of the American Anti-Vivisection Society, an organization that opposed the testing of animals in laboratories.

The medical establishment of the day fought back. Animal experimentation had produced remarkable benefits, including several lifesaving vaccines developed by the French microbiologist Louis Pasteur in the 1870s and ’80s. However, in less-able hands, the authors point out, millions of animal lives had been needlessly wasted — and continue to be wasted — “to no good end.”

Like so many of the debates initiated by animal activists in the late 19th century, this controversy continues today. Medical experiments, now regulated, are still performed on countless creatures. But a still greater source of mass suffering is the treatment of livestock. Rudyard Kipling, who visited Chicago in 1889, described scenes in the packinghouses where pigs, “still kicking,” were dropped into boiling vats and cattle “were slain at the rate of five a minute.”

The Illinois Humane Society, we read, was co-opted by the burgeoning meat industry. (Beef baron Philip D. Armour was a major contributor and a member of the society’s board of directors.) And while Upton Sinclair’s muckraking novel “The Jungle” brought public attention to the abuses of the meatpacking industry, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, passed soon after it was published, would regulate sanitary conditions in plants but not animal suffering.

Serious efforts to improve the treatment of livestock would have to wait for the animal rights movement spurred by the writings of the Australian moral philosopher Peter Singer during the 1970s and beyond. But the authors remind us that progress has been slow. Sows are still imprisoned in metal gestation crates; chickens are raised so tightly packed together that they can barely turn around. America has more cows and pigs than cats and dogs, we read, but their welfare garners far less attention. And, while we remain focused on charismatic species like polar bears and whales, thousands of others teeter on the edge of extinction.

Yet Wasik and Murphy are finally optimistic that the “circle of our care” is slowly expanding. The question is whether this gradual blossoming of compassion will come fast enough in an era of climate change to save our kindred creatures — and ourselves.

Richard Schiffman is an environmental journalist.

Our Kindred Creatures

How Americans Came to Feel the Way They Do About Animals

By Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

Knopf. 450 pp. $35

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