Inkling by Kenneth Oppel

Inkling by Kenneth Oppel is a unique and heartwarming book about a boy named Ethan. Ethan’s dad is one of the most accomplished graphic novelists in the world but has fallen into a profound writer’s block after the tragic death of their mother. Ethan also has a sister named Sarah. She has Down syndrome and always addresses herself in the third person. Every page in this unforgettable novel is a new adventure for Ethan and his friends.

The novel begins when a spot of ink begins to come to life from Ethan’s dad’s sketchbook. Struggling to escape the grasp of its homeland, Inkling, as Ethan calls it flies onto the table sucking up the nearby ink in books and magazines as it lands on it. Inkling zooms about the house exploring every nook and cranny and sucking up as much ink as it can.

When Ethan eventually finds out about Inkling he decides to ask Inkling if he can help him with a school project. His whole class must make a graphic novel with a group of friends. His friends all chose for him to be the illustrator because they think that just because his dad is one of the greatest graphic novel artists, he is too. But that is certainly not the case. Quite the contrary, in fact. The only thing Ethan can draw is stick people, so when he finds out that Inkling read the storyline for the graphic novel and finished sketching out the panel all by himself, he asks if Inkling can help him with the rest of it. Inkling enthusiastically agrees.

However, at school Vika is suspicious of Ethan’s sudden aptitude for drawing and investigates. Vika eventually kidnaps Inkling out of Ethan’s backpack with an irresistible comic and luring him into a glass jar for safekeeping. When Ethan gets home, he realizes that Inkling had disappeared and immediately tells his father what had happened.

Meanwhile at Vika’s house Inkling tries a desperate attempt to escape. Vika ends up cutting off little bits of him and those little bits turn into the hungry Blotter, who wants to eat Inkling after only being fed violent comics, not the books that are part of a balanced diet for ink. Will Ethan be able to rescue Inkling before Blotter eats him?

I really enjoyed this novel because of the unique plot about a blot of ink, making it stand out among other books of its genre. Another reason I liked this book is its illustrations, as they were able to convey the entire chapter in one simple ink drawing.