Phillip Pullman
Every 12-year-old has adventures, and Lyra’s life at Jordan College is no different. However, a sense of doom falls over Oxford, when children start disappearing and their disappearances are credited to the Gobblers. When three of Lyra’s friends go missing, she is very concerned that the adults aren’t doing more to find the missing children. As a way to help protect Lyra, the headmaster allows her to choose to become the personal assistant to Mrs. Coulter. However, before leaving the college, he gives Lyra a device called the alethiometer, and makes her promise not to tell anyone that she has it. There is something exciting, yet strange about being with Mrs. Coulter, and when Lyra decides to escape, her life takes on a whole new meaning with the Gyptians as they begin an effort to find the missing children.
With this story using locations known to many readers (Oxford, the Arctic Circle, etc.), the characters are what constantly remind us that this is a fantasy book. In this world, every human has a daemon, which is understood to be a manifestation of the human’s soul. Without their daemons, the humans will die. The Gyptians are the ones who explain to Lyra the purpose of the alethiomter, and she learns to use it to help guide them in their search for the missing children. The reader is made aware that Lyra’s future will help determine the fate of the entire world, but she is not allowed to know this – for her success can only come from her ignorance. As Lyra (and the reader) meets the witches and fighting bears whose help is needed in the search for the missing children, her adventures lead her into the throes of the battle between good and evil.
As I was reading this book, a man walking past me stopped and commented how envious he was that I was starting this series and how he wishes he could go back and start it over because he enjoyed the books so much. What a recommendation!! And after finishing the book, I agree with the stranger who was walking past. The story and characters will draw the reader into their world and their struggles, leaving the reader wanting to know what happens in the next book. And I will as well.