(Image from Barnes & Noble)

When Alice Creighton's father drowns in a mysterious shipwreck, the 12-year-old finds herself adrift.  She can't stay in her big, old house alone—even if she could find a way to save it from being sold at auction.  The only solution is to do what she's told and go to Pittsburgh, where she'll stay with an uncle she's never met.  It's all very straight-forward.  The always practical Alice can think of no better alternative to her problem.

Maybe the change of scenery will help relieve her extreme sadness, an overwhelming grief that is causing her to see things.  Like fairies.  Even in Pennsylvania, Alice can't shake the strange visions—surely talking cats aren't real, even in a place like Uncle Geryon's creepy castle.  And then there's his library—a forbidden library—which Alice knows is full of even greater wonders.  Either she's insane or the strange creatures are real, people really can jump into books and there's a whole lot more than meets the eye to everyone and everything around her—including Alice herself. 

As Alice begins to untangle the vast mysteries contained in the library, she wonders how she's going to solve the most compelling one of all:  What happened to her father?  Is he really dead?  Or is he, like her, simply trapped in a vast, impossible world of magic?  Can she find him if she just knows where to look?  

The Forbidden Library, the first book in a new fantasy series by Django Wexler, introduces readers to a complex world where Readers can step inside stories, but have to fight their way out.  It's a wild treasure hunt that hops between reality and fantasy, making fairy tales come alive in the most frightening ways.  As Alice learns the rules through trial and error, the reader journeys with her, always wondering if this adventure will be her last.  Although the story gets confusing at times, The Forbidden Library is a fun, Inkheart-ish read that will appeal to book lovers of all ages.   

(Readalikes:  The Inkheart trilogy [Inkheart; Inkspell; Inkdeath] by Cornelia Funke and The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup) 

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  

for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), scary scenes, and violence

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of The Forbidden Library from the generous folks at Penguin.  Thank you!