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Summary
Summary
"Astonishing"-- The New York Times Book Review
A brilliantly funny, highly illustrated story about how a little ink splot changes a family forever. Perfect for those who love Hoot, Holes, or Frindle !
The Rylance family is stuck. Dad's got writer's block. Ethan promised to illustrate a group project at school--even though he can't draw. Sarah's still pining for a puppy. And they all miss Mom.
Enter Inkling. Inkling begins life in Mr. Rylance's sketchbook. But one night the ink of his drawings runs together--and then leaps off the page! This small burst of creativity is about to change everything.
Ethan finds him first. Inkling has absorbed a couple chapters of his math book--not good--and the story he's supposed to be illustrating for school--also not good. But Inkling's also started drawing the pictures to go with the story--which is amazing! It's just the help Ethan was looking for! Inkling helps the rest of the family too--for Sarah he's a puppy. And for Dad he's a spark of ideas for a new graphic novel. It's exactly what they all want.
It's not until Inkling goes missing that this family has to face the larger questions of what they--and Inkling--truly need.
* A New York Times Notable Book
* A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year -- top ten selection
* "A true-to-life family, some can't-put-it-down excitement, a few deep questions, and more than a little bit of magic. This book is everything, and I loved every page." --Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medalist for When You Reach Me
Author Notes
KENNETH OPPEL is one of the most highly regarded authors of middle-grade fiction writing today. Among his books is the 2015 middle-grade novel The Nest, which received six starred reviews, was the Canadian Library Association's 2016 Book of the Year, a New York Times Editors' Choice, and was included on several notable "Best of 2015" lists, as well as Airborn, a 2005 Printz Honor Book. Find him online at www.kennethoppel.ca and @KennethOppel.
SYDNEY SMITH is the illustrator of many award-winning picture books, including Smoot, A Rebellious Shadow by Michelle Cuevas, Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson, and Town is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, for which he was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal. Sydney lives with his family in Toronto, Canada. You can find him on Twitter @Sydneydraws.
Reviews (6)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Ethan Rylance has the weight of the world on his shoulders. His mother recently passed away, and his once-successful father is struggling with his career as a graphic novel creator. Because his father is grieving and experiencing depression, it falls to a frustrated Ethan to act as caregiver and playmate to his intuitive and empathetic little sister who has Down Syndrome. On top of the strains of his home life, Ethan is struggling with a school assignment. His classmates assume that artistry is in his genes and Ethan, ever eager to save face, agrees to be the illustrator of their group project to create an original graphic novel, even though he has no notion of how to begin drawing and his father is too preoccupied to advise. But when the ink from Mr. Rylance's sketchbook comes to life one night and begins exploring the family home, everything changes. After discovering the shape-shifting splotch of potential creative energy, Ethan christens his helpful new friend Inkling. For a time, Inkling remains secret, but as the buoyant and optimistic creature grows larger and takes on characteristics of what he devours, more and more people in Ethan's circle find out. Inkling is able to reproduce the art and text he has eaten, a trait that the Rylance family thinks will solve all their problems, but instead brings them to a head that father and son must confront together. VERDICT A unique story about the creative process and the journey through grief. Recommended for fiction collections.-Lauren Younger, -Nicholson Memorial Library, Garland, TX © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
With none but Rickman the cat awake to see it, a blob of ink wrenches itself free from a sketchbook and begins munching its way through a nearby math textbook, "slurp[ing] the ink into itself" and leaving a blank, shiny page in its wake. Ethan, the son of a once-successful graphic novelist, discovers the blotch (and its skillful contribution to his graphic novel assignment) and names it Inkling. As Inkling consumes print media, expanding and learning with each absorbed word and image, Ethan and his family-especially his sister, Sarah, who has Down syndrome-become more attached to the lovable creature, whose upbeat personality provides a distraction from their grief over the loss of Ethan and Sarah's mother. But keeping Inkling and using it to make art poses ethical questions for Ethan and his father, not to mention for a company looking to turn business around. Gray-scale illustrations by Smith (Town Is by the Sea) ground readers in the medium through which Ethan and Inkling communicate. Inkling's evolving abilities model a realistic creative arc-the creature mimics its most recent literary meal ("I'M UTTERLY ENRAPTURED" follows a stint with L.M. Montgomery) until it eventually discovers its own voice-even as the other characters work through grief and find their own stories. Ages 8-12. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Sixth grader Ethan--the son of a famous artist--unfortunately can't draw. But then a sentient blot of ink escapes from his father's inkwell, slowly gains communicative abilities, and aids his drawing. This intriguing illustrated fantasy and unusual friendship story goes off the rails when "Inkling" disappears, having been kidnapped by his father's publisher's daughter. Still, it's a highly original concept and an entertaining page-turner. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
"No one was awake to see it happen."No one except Rickman, the cat, who was snooping around for something to eat. He saw the whole thing: The ink in Mr. Rylance's sketchbook came to life, slithered across the page and lifted right out of the book, leaving no sign it had ever occupied the white paper. Ethan, Mr. Rylance's son, hates drawing, but everyone thinks that because his dad is a famous graphic novel artist, Ethan has talent. The terrible truth is that he can't draw, but his friends have designated him the artist for a school project. Then Ethan meets the splotch with a mind of its own and dubs it "Inkling." Inkling has taught himself (Oppel genders Inkling male with pronoun use) to read and communicates by forming words on paperand he can draw! But then Inkling goes missing. Has he been kidnapped? Did he run away? The third-person narrative follows Ethan, a classmate, and Inkling, neatly developing the inkblot into a memorable character in his own right. In a metafictive touch, the corners of the pages are themselves splotched, giving readers the feeling that they're part of the story. Ethan's 9-year-old sister has Down syndrome but isn't a sentimental plot device; she adds an extra layer of true humor and warmth to the story. The characters all present white in Smith's vignettes.A sweet and funny story about an unusual friendship. (Fantasy. 7-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Mr. Rylance, a famous graphic novelist, is battling a bad case of writer's block after the death of his wife. Meanwhile, his son, Ethan, is struggling to complete a school graphic-novel project and frustrated with his father's inability to move on. When an inkblot that can write, listen, learn, and create beautiful pictures pulls himself from Mr. Rylance's sketchbook, Ethan names him Inkling and thinks the blot could solve their problems. Inkling is a truly engaging character at turns hilarious, when he mimics the language of the books he reads, and poignant, when he wonders about his identity and purpose. The omniscient narrator adds tension to the story, as several human characters discover the truth about Inkling and fight to use him in nice or nefarious ways. The undercurrent of loss and grief, not to mention questions of agency and personhood, give the story weight but do not weigh it down. Smith's energetic and expressive ink drawings are the perfect complement and contribute to the storytelling in playful ways. Oppel's latest is serious fun.--Mariko Turk Copyright 2018 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
FREDERICK DOUGLASS: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight. (Simon & Schuster, $37.50.) Blight's monumental biography describes the context that enabled an escaped slave to become an adviser to President Lincoln and one of the 19th century's greatest figures. Unlike Douglass's own autobiographies, it also recounts his complex relationships with the women in his life. THE SOULS OF YELLOW FOLK: Essays, by Wesley Yang. (Norton, $24.95.) Three essays in this collection mine the question of Asian-American identity. Yang emphasizes the invisibility he often feels, and tries to enter the minds of people like Seung-Hui Cho, who killed more than 30 people at Virginia Tech in 2007. THE LETTERS OF SYLVIA PLATH: Volume 2, 1956-1963, edited by Peter K. Steinberg and Karen V. Kukil. (HarperCollins, $45.) This volume, which spans the period of Plath's marriage until her death, includes more than a dozen letters to her therapist, revealing the hurt and humiliation that fed her final, furious poems. THE NOVEL OF FERRARA, by Giorgio Bassani. Translated by Jamie McKendrick. (Norton, $39.95.) Best known for "The Garden of the Finzi Continis," Bassani retrofits his novellas and stories into a sprawling portrait of an Italian Jewish community destroyed by the historical hatreds unleashed by World War II. INKLING, by Kenneth Oppel. Illustrated by Sydney Smith. (Knopf, $17.99; ages 8 to 12.) The son of a creatively blocked artist tries to work with a magical ink blot to help his dad, but the blot has a mind of its own in this astonishing novel about how we make art and connect with family. THE WALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK, written and illustrated by Jon Agee. (Dial, $17.99; ages 4 to 8.) A brick wall lies in the middle of each spread in this deceptively simple picture book. A young knight is glad to be protected from the scary stuff on the other side, until a flood carries him over and he sees that there's nothing to fear, and plenty of fun. NOWHERE BOY, by Katherine Marsh. (Roaring Brook, $16.99; ages 10 to 14.) In this hopeful, elegant novel, a Syrian teenager escaping the civil war that killed his family makes it to Brussels, where he befriends a lonely American boy who finds a way to hide and support him for nine months. DOOR, by JiHyeon Lee. (Chronicle, $17.99; ages 4 to 8.) This remarkable wordless picture book bursts with buoyant energy as a boy finds the key to a long-unopened door and makes his way from drabness to a joyful, magical land. DRY, by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman. (Simon & Schuster, $18.99; ages 12 and up.) This propulsive action thriller, set at a time when Southern California has run out of water, explores the price of our collective blindness to impending climate disasters. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books