Mehera is a twelve year old who is caught up in a books series. When the series is suddenly discontinued she become rude and sullen. Her friends and father try to encourage her to forget about it. She believes the land of Imaginalis is real. She is right. It is up to her to help the Imaginalis save their land. I enjoyed this book and know I will have a difficult time keeping this book on my shelves. I didn't immediately like Mehera. She came off as rude to her friends and especially her father. This book seems to be all about change. I believe the thing I loved the most was the use of the imagination. Our children today seem to have lost the use of their imagination. This book lends itself to so many creative writing projects. I hope to read more by this author. J.M. DeMatteis A fun, exciting, sassy, hopeful, inspiring bit of tween fantasy by an accomplished comics writer (who wrote Moonshadow, a limited series that inspired the hell out of me in the '80s). The protagonist, Mehera Beatrice Crosby is the kind of kid I wish I'd been--or the kind of girl I would have wanted to go with in middle school. She's smart, nerdy, fierce, and has a huge heart. The magic is wondrous, the evil is truly scary, and the message of the book is exactly the kind of message I want in my fantasy. J.M. DeMatteis I love a good fantasy....but this one was just a little too weird.
There are fantasical creatures, a creepy (and smelly) villain, and adventure. But I just couldn't get past the weirdness...character names, behavior, actions. It was very much like a Neverending Story takeoff: a girl gets involved with characters in her favorite fantasy series, a book-within-a-book. But the book inside the book was just really odd. I think to make a good fantasy work, you've got to firmly anchor the new and strange world somehow with the reader. I didn't feel it worked too well.
That said, I still finished it and stayed up too late to do it. So clearly, I was at least hooked by it somewhat. :)
J.M. DeMatteis The general premise and twist on child discovers beloved storybook world is real sounded interesting. I'm also a fan of DeMatteis' comics and can enjoy children's books despite being well out of the target demographic, so was looking forward to this. Surprisingly I couldn't even get through the first chapter without starting to skim. A little further and I gave up altogether.
The main character/narrator gets so caught up in her own enthusiasm that she rambles without restraint. I want to find her endearing and be angry with the classmates that mock her and complain to the teacher about her love for her favorite book, yet the writing style and excessiveness of her verbose book report strained my own patience. There's something seriously wrong when I'm sympathizing with the bullies. I tried a couple times, and tried skimming/skipping ahead a little. Nothing helped rekindle my interest and I just couldn't make myself read more.
All that said, children are less likely to be bothered by style and more likely to get caught up in Mehera's enthusiasm, so it could be a much better fit with its actual target audience. I unfortunately recommend adults who like children's books not bother though. J.M. DeMatteis Twelve-year old Mehera Crosby is obsessed with her favorite fantasy series, Imaginalis. When she learns that future publications of the series have been canceled, she does everything she can think of to ensure the continuation of the epic story. Her powerful belief in the series allows her to build the Unbelievable Bridge and bring the Imaginalis characters into the real world where she learns that only her belief in them can save their land from extinction. Imaginalis borrows concepts from The Neverending Story and Inkheart, mixed with Indian/Buddhist/Hindu themes, and will appeal to fans of epic fantasy novels. Overanalyzing the concept that “the whole universe is just a story” and that humans are only characters that have the ability to create other real/fantasy characters can be confusing and muddle the story so it is better to just accept it. The published reviews are mixed and I found the book to be only so-so, although I do not typically enjoy reading this genre, so the fact that I made it through the entire thing says something! You might want to consider purchasing if your library has a strong fantasy following. J.M. DeMatteis
READ Imaginalis
What if your dearest friends were trapped in a world that was dying?
Mehera Beatrice Crosby has one great love—and it's not following the latest health fads (like her school friend Celeste), and it's definitely not Andrew Suarez (even if he does have a ridiculous crush on her). It's Imaginalis, her favorite book series.
When she learns that the long-awaited last book in the series has been canceled, Mehera is devastated—until strange events begin unfolding, and she realizes that her Imaginalian friends are counting on her to rescue them from their fading existence. Soon Mehera finds herself traveling between her world and the kingdom of Imaginalis. But what will happen when she accidentally brings the villain of the series, Pralaya, back to Earth, along with Prince Imagos and his Companions? Has Mehera doomed both worlds beyond repair, or is there a way to save Mehera's world—and Imaginalis, too?
Expert storyteller J. M. DeMatteis's richly imagined fantasy is a fast-paced adventure and a testament to the power of loyal friendship, creativity, and imagination. Imaginalis
This book totally came across to me as pointless. I mean, the author had good descriptions and all, but other than that the storyline was pretty hard to follow, and it was way over dramatized. The drama part might have been because the narrator was supposed to be a thirteen year old girl, but the way Mehera was completely obsessed with the Imaginalis books was slightly disturbing. She kind of went into depression when the Imaginalis book was canceled, and anyone who can get that upset about a children's book probably needs therapy. J.M. DeMatteis I was very intrigued by the blurb when I decided to buy this book, as it's about a girl who ends up in a fantasy world created by her favorite author.
I really loved the general concept here. Opening a door to your most beloved bookish world and actively participating in the story? Well you've certainly got me with this. I also liked the portrayal of the female main character and the setting that's been established around her life story. It's a single-parent setting, which earns the book a few plus points already, as I'm always looking for children's and YA novels with diverse parental structures.
Next on my list is the interaction that develops out of the protagonist's strong belief in the fantasy kingdom. The representation of the fictional author is nice to read and the fantasy characters coming to life within the world of Imaginalis is well written. The only thing I wasn't particularly keen on was the fantasy story itself. I know, that's a big part of the book but I loved the idea around it, so that makes up for it ;-) I just, personally, couldn't get into the Imaginalis part here. Maybe I'm just too old :-)
Keeping in mind that this is a children's book, I can definitely recommend it as I think the story's well written for young readers (and adults who are interested in the genre). J.M. DeMatteis This book was absolutely abominable! I think the author might be an atheist, too, and I think I can prove it.
I picked up this book because the story sounded interesting; a girl saving story book characters from disappearing forever. However, I literally kept nodding off while reading this book--I had to force myself to get to page 100! It was there I gladly stopped and went off to read another, and better, book. But I think I've read enough of this to mark it as 'read'. I want to WARN you how horrible this book is before you begin it.
Here is why I think this book is absolutely, and totally abominable:
This is a book about a girl who loves books. And yet, the author himself insults the Nancy Drew books! Those books weren't particularly my taste, but don't you think it's more than a bit rude to say that they are formulaic garbage?! (Page 55) Lots of time and effort went into writing the Nancy Drew books--time and effort goes into writing any book! Well, accept this book. It's horrible.
And another thing: the character who insulted the Nancy Drew books, Celeste--her father is an atheist, and it looks like he raised her up the same way. The main character, Mehera, and Celeste hang out and only pretend to be friends. They don't really LIKE EACH OTHER, but that's what a friendship IS. They hang out because they're supposedly all they have, but if you don't like the person you are hanging out with, why hang out with them at all?! Or call them your 'friend'?! How can you be all someone has if you don't even like each other, or have any similarities?! If they'd just FACED REALITY and parted ways, something would've come up and they both would have found the perfect friend! God would have had a plan for them. Oh, wait. THEY ARE ATHEISTS. They don't believe in God.
SERIOUSLY?!?!!??!?!?!?!?! YOU STUPID AUTHOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and I think I can prove the author himself is an atheist: When Mehera finds out her favorite book series is canceled, she yells I hate you! at her dad, and runs up to her room. She cries and started STROKING the poster of the book series she has nailed to her wall, saying something like, 'I believe that you are real. I think you are more real than...all of this.' And she gestures outside, pointing to her backyard, the trees and the sky. How can you believe a BOOK is MORE REAL than the world around you?! If there was no world, than authors or printing presses or anything to make a book wouldn't even exist!!!!!!
Oh, yeah and here's yet another thing: the magical characters from the book series Mehera likes, they try to contact her--through texting. And YouTube vidoes. Now, I've heard of some books where people vanish into video games and computers, but if BOOK characters are trying to contact someone, shouldn't they be using something more bookish? Like a secret message in enchanted ink. That would be better instead of BOOK characters contacting someone through the INTERNET. It just doesn't go well together. Also, for someone who claims to be crazy about books the main character sure does use a lot of technology. I think, in the book Inkheart, the character's love of books was portrayed better because she actually READ books. But all this character does is say I love books sooooo much! and then lock herself up in her room and go on Facebook.
Also, in the One Year Adventure Novel by Daniel Schwabauer, there is a writing technique called Undiserved Misfortune, to make the reader feel sorry for the character. Like if someone's parents died. In fact, Mehera's mom DID die, but it's hard to feel sorry for her if she repeatedly says, Oh don't feel sorry for me! I'm fine! Really! THAT was annoying.
Also, because this book was written in first person, that means Mehera narrates it. Well, when she was narrating the story, she repeatedly used incredibly annoying words that did nothing but make the writing choppy. She kept on using kinda sorta and interrupting what she was saying with long AND UNNECESSARY dashes--like--this--And when she was reading an excerpt from one of the books in the series that she likes...well lets just say the author should have TOTALLY rewritten that. ALOT. You can easily tell it was the author's writing style--because--of--the--annoying--dashes!!!! I mean usually when people are writing a book and it has an excerpt from a fiction story they made up, they'd probably want to make it less and less like their own writing style as possible. But that's what this author DOES NOT do. You almost can't tell the different between Mehera's narrative and the storybook characters--because--it's--the--same--and the only difference was the queen's narrative was all in italics.
Over all, this book is absolutely, totally and without a doubt the largest and most repulsive book to walk the in the world of literature and it most definitely shouldn't have been written because I think everything about it is incredibly abominable and I was going to complain about something else around page 100 but that's where I stopped so I don't remember what happened and I don't really want to because this book is utterly and disgustingly HORRIBLE. The end. J.M. DeMatteis J.M. DeMatteis è di uno degli autori che, a partire dagli anni 80, ha più lasciato il segno su parecchi personaggi Marvel e DC, Uomo Ragno in primis, per il quale scrisse alcune run strepitose.
Per capirci, se mi capita di voler far leggere a qualcuno un fumetto di supereroi maturo e rappresentativo delle potenzialità, di solito la mia scelta cade sull’Hulk di Peter David, il Devil di Miller (tipicamente Born Again) o L’ultima caccia di Kraven, meravigliosa storia dell’Uomo Ragno scritta proprio da DeMatteis.
Questa premessa per indicare con che curiosità io mi sia avvicinato a Imaginalis, romanzo per ragazzi pubblicato negli Stati Uniti nel 2010 e mai tradotto in Italia.
Mi è piaciuto? Sì, sicuramente mi è piaciuto, ma non posso dire che mi abbia entusiasmato. Lo stile di scrittura è immediato, gradevole, avvincente, tarato sul pubblico (DeMatteis ha una gran capacità di cambiare registro di narrazione, da sempre). Il problema, forse, è che si tratta solo di un buon libro per ragazzi.
Inutile negarlo, Neil Gaiman ha innalzato di molto lo standard dei libri per ragazzi: Coraline, The Graveyard Book, sono esempi di cosa si possa raggiungere. Imaginalis non è a quei livelli e, forse, fare un confronto del genere è fargli un torto. J.M. è un grande scrittore, ma Gaiman è un genio.
Dal punto di vista oggettivo, Imaginalis risente inizialmente di una forse eccessiva somiglianza (per temi e, in parte, per sviluppo) con la parte iniziale de La Storia Infinita di Michael Ende. Abbiamo un mondo di fantasia che, però, non lo è del tutto, abbiamo una protagonista in grado di collegarsi a quel mondo, abbiamo una sorta di Nulla che minaccia la sorte di Imaginalis. Poi, da metà libro, la narrazione si differenzia, l’azione diventa più veloce e il gusto aumenta. Non che nella prima parte ci si annoi, ma indubbiamente il senso di deja-vù non aiuta a goderselo appieno.
Nonostante questo, il romanzo si legge velocemente, con piacere e si portano a casa alcune immagini e alcune citazioni da tenersi strette.
Chi ha voglia di una lettura gradevole e semplice in inglese dovrebbe farci un pensierino.
Always follow your dreams. They may not lead you where you expect to go, but they’ll always lead you someplace wonderful
Segui sempre i tuoi sogni. Potrebbero non condurti dove ti aspetti, ma ti porteranno sempre in un luogo fantastico J.M. DeMatteis Twelve-year old Mehera Crosby is obsessed with her favorite fantasy series, Imaginalis. When she learns that future publications of the series have been canceled, she does everything she can think of to ensure the continuation of the epic story. Her powerful belief in the series allows her to build the Unbelievable Bridge and bring the Imaginalis characters into the real world where she learns that only her belief in them can save their land from extinction. Imaginalis borrows concepts from The Neverending Story and Inkheart, mixed with Indian/Buddhist/Hindu themes, and will appeal to fans of epic fantasy novels. Overanalyzing the concept that “the whole universe is just a story” and that humans are only characters that have the ability to create other real/fantasy characters can be confusing and muddle the story so it is better to just accept it. The published reviews are mixed and I found the book to be only so-so, although I do not typically enjoy reading this genre, so the fact that I made it through the entire thing says something! You might want to consider purchasing if your library has a strong fantasy following. J.M. DeMatteis