Book Review: The Book Jumper
“Part of me felt bad because of course I knew the rule and yet I persisted in breaking it.”
─ Mechthild Glaser
“I had so many ideas to replace – and for that I needed my knight.”
─ Mechthild Glaser
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Book Information
Title: The Book Jumper
Author: Mechthild Glaser
Publisher: Square Fish an imprint of Macmillan Publishing, New York
ISBN 978-1-250-14423-2
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy
Ages: 12-18
371 pages
Book Summary:
Amy Lenox is shocked by her mother’s suggestion of leaving Germany over school break to visit her mother’s childhood home in Scotland. The spur of the moment decision will hopefully help them heal over the recent betrayals. The trip leads Amy to Lennox House on the island of Stormsay, where she discovers hidden secrets about her family and herself.
Amy’s estranged grandmother, Lady Mairead, agrees to allow Amy and her mother to stay, but on the condition that Amy must read. An avid reader, Amy has no problem with this, but her mother strongly disagrees. As it turns out it isn’t the usual type of reading. Amy learns a new power that is thrilling, but also dangerous. Amy like those in her family are book jumpers, able to leap into a story and interact with the characters inside. As excited as Amy finds the books she visits, she soon discovers that someone is stealing from the books and may be trying to kill her. Amy teams up with a fellow book jumper Will, and characters from a few stories to discover who is behind the thefts.
Book Rating 3.5/5
The Book Jumper is the story about a seemingly ordinary teenage girl. It has always been Amy and her single mother, Alexis. The two were very close. When both suffer an emotional blow in their lives Alexis suggests that the go on the spur of the moment trip to recover and heal. The trip destination is the island of Stormsay in Scotland to Alexis’s childhood home. Amy is relieved to be going on the trip, but shocked by the destination, as her mother left before she was born vowing to never return.
From the moment Amy arrives on the island her life is altered. The moment she walked into Lennox House and met her estranged grandmother, Lady Mairead, Amy realizes that there is so much she doesn’t know about her family. Her grandmother’s strange stipulation that Amy must read for them to stay, becomes even more bizarre when Alexis angrily disagrees despite Amy being an avid reader. Amy soon discovers why as her family’s strange history and powers are revealed to her.
I liked the way that Glaser introduced a family legacy of having special powers, and with having their ability a great responsibility. This is not a new concept in many stories, Glaser gave the concept a fresh look with the introduction of a long past mistake that has haunted the family and returns for revenge. This time the revenge isn’t against the family members directly but the stories they have vowed to protect.
Glaser imbued stories with life and energy of their own. Depicting characters that had a will to survive and thrive in their stories despite being forgotten. In some cases, individual characters fight to survive.
The Book Jumper is the first English translated book by German writer Mechthild Glaser. For information on the author’s other books can be found at her website:
https://www.mechthild-glaeser.de/ (Warning the site is in German.)
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