The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass. 9780440418320. Philip Pullman. May 2001. Grade 7 - 12. Gypsies, white people, witches.

Lyra is on a mission to bring her uncle Lord Asriel, later to find out father, the alethiometer and to save her friend from the Gobblers. She feels this is very important and through her mission to go north, she goes through many different adventures. Mrs. Coulter takes Lyra with her, and Lyra runs away from her and joins the Gypsies to go north. Along the way she meets Armored Bears and witches and comes to the place where the children are kept that the Gobblers have taken. She sets the building on fire and sets the children free. She then leaves with her friend and they go to meet up with her father, only to find out her father did not want the alethiometer but her friend. Lord Asriel uses Lyra's friend and opens a bridge to the new world and goes to join.

I think this book would be a great book to really do some indepth thinking and instead of thinking and learning about the past, maybe using this book to think about the future. I think it would be a good book to read to learn how to write a compelling story as well.

The plot was an exciting one that kept the reader moving along and wanting more information. It was a book that was very difficult to put down and I am looking forward to reading the next two books to see what happens. I think that Lyra is a little unbelievable because she seems to have some strange power that is only working for her and she does some pretty unbelievable things. Then you have the armored bears and witches and they aren't real, but all the characters and their characteristics are very important to the story. I think the theme of this story, or one of them is to not be afraid to be a leader and go for what you believe in.