The Book Jumper by Mechthild Glaser - ADVISABLE

Glaser, Mechthild The Book Jumper, 371 pages.  Feiwel (Macmillan), 2017.  $18.  

Language: PG (5 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (mild danger).

After the dramatic end to a relationship, Amy’s mom drags her off to her home island in a remote corner of Scotland.  There Amy, 17,  finds out that she is a book jumper – she can actually jump into any written story and help monitor the characters and story to make sure that nothing goes wrong – unlike centuries earlier when the only copy a book was burned and only a few characters survived.  But Amy can jump into a book from anywhere – not just the sacred stone circle that the others have to use.  Why is she so special?  And who is stealing essential elements from classic stories?  The book jumper world is spinning out of control and Amy has a major part to play in finding the culprit – even if it breaks her heart.

After I got used to the premise, I became more interested in this story, especially when Amy started interacting with Werther.  Part love story (small part), much adventure.  Warning – don’t ignore the chapter headings – they are a big part of the story.  I marked each of them as I went along (after I figured that out) so that I could go back and read the whole story from start to finish.  There was only one jarring note for me – one of the characters is described as being much younger than I think they should be, especially considering how important they are to the action and how their story arch is described.

MS, HS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher