Author: Philip Pullman
Publisher: Turtleback
Copyright: 2001
ISBN: 9780613961509
Reading Level: Grades 7-12
Interest Age: Grade 6 to adult
Genre: Fantasy--Alternate and Parallel Worlds
Reader’s Annotation: Lyra's odyssey takes from Oxford to the frozen north in the company of gyptians, a polar bear, witches, and, most frighteningly, her parents. Along the way she is guided by the enigmatic alethiometer (or golden compass) that tells the truth to those who can read it.
Plot Summary
Lyra has grown up in Oxford believing herself to be an orphan, playing with the street children and her daemon, Pantalaimon. (A daemon is a piece of the soul that lives outside the body in animal form.) When her supposed uncle, Lord Asriel, comes to visit, Lyra becomes inextricably entangled in an intrigue that involves the Gobblers (kidnappers of children) and another world in the sky. Soon Lord Asriel sets off on an expedition to the North, one of her friends from the street is taken by Gobblers, and the elegant Mrs. Coulter comes to take Lyra away with her. Before she leaves, Lyra receives an alethiometer, a rare and precious instrument that tells the truth—about past, present, and future—to those few who can read it.
When Lyra finds out that Mrs. Coulter is a Gobbler, she escapes aboard a gyptian boat, setting out on an odyssey that takes her to the frozen North in search of her friend. Along the way she learns to read the alethiometer and discovers that her parents are Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter. Lyra befriends an armored bear, Iorek Byrnison, who travels with her on his way back to his kingdom. Eventually they come to the land of the witch clans, who point them toward Mrs. Coulter’s research facility. When Lyra is captured and taken there she learns the terrible truth about what the Gobblers are up to—separating children from their daemons to unleash the energy of their bond.
Critical Evaluation
This highly imaginative work combines interesting characters, a credible alternate reality, beautiful writing, and an action-packed plot. The result is a complex yet gripping epic tale—and this is just the first book in a trilogy totaling over 1300 pages. The fascinating Mrs. Coulter is one of the scariest characters I’ve ever encountered. Iorek Byrnison is a fierce, honorable warrior with a deep tenderness for Lyra. The existence of daemons (who are really just externalized parts of the self) allows for a kind of relationship unlike any other. The reader observes several such relationships, but mostly intimately the one between Lyra and Pantalaimon. Pantalaimon’s caution complements Lyra’s impulsiveness; together they are a much more well rounded character than Lyra is alone. The bond between Lyra and Pantalaimon is well established by the time the narrative reaches the two most wrenching scenes in the book—Lyra’s encounter with a “ghost boy” who’s been separated from his daemon and Lyra and Pan’s own near separation. The emotion of these scenes is palpable, as the reader can by then well imagine the intense pain and loss of self such a separation would cause. The details of Lyra world—from the use of gas instead of electricity and zeppelins instead of airplanes to the existence of many and varied kinds of sentient beings—feel consistent. It’s easy to become immersed in this fully realized setting. Readers will be reluctant to leave it.
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: Imagine if you had a pet you could talk to, who was in fact part of yourself. What would it look like? How would it affect your life?
Challenge Issues: Violence
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll put in positive reviews from VOYA, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist, and mixed reviews from The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and School Library Journal.
About the Author
I was born in Norwich in 1946, and educated in England, Zimbabwe, and Australia, before my family settled in North Wales. I received my secondary education at the excellent Ysgol Ardudwy, Harlech, and then went to Exeter College, Oxford, to read English, though I never learned to read it very well.
I found my way into the teaching profession at the age of 25, and taught at various Oxford Middle Schools before moving to Westminster College in 1986, where I spent eight years involved in teaching students on the B.Ed. course. I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well in our schools. My main concern is that an over-emphasis on testing and league tables has led to a lack of time and freedom for a true, imaginative and humane engagement with literature.
My views on education are eccentric and unimportant, however. My only real claim to anyone's attention lies in my writing. I've published nearly twenty books, mostly of the sort that are read by children, though I'm happy to say that the natural audience for my work seems to be a mixed one - mixed in age, that is, though the more mixed in every other way as well, the better.
My first children's book was Count Karlstein (1982, republished in 2002). That was followed by The Ruby in the Smoke (1986), the first in a quartet of books featuring the young Victorian adventurer, Sally Lockhart. I did a great deal of research for the background of these stories, and I don't intend to let it lie unused, so there will almost certainly be more of them.
However, my most well-known work is the trilogy His Dark Materials, beginning with Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the USA) in 1995, continuing with The Subtle Knife in 1997, and concluding with The Amber Spyglass in 2000. These books have been honoured by several prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award - the first time in the history of that prize that it was given to a children's book.
And finally, The Book of Dust. My work on this has been interrupted over the past couple of years, but the book is growing slowly and before long I shall take it up again full-time. What can I tell you about it? Nothing, except that it’s by far the most important thing I’m doing, and I intend to do it as well as I possibly can. When it’s finished, you’ll hear about it, I guarantee.
http://www.philip-pullman.com/about.asp
Why is this title included?
This series has been one of my favorites for years. It stands up well to rereading and is as enjoyable for adult readers as it is for children. It's also on several best-of-the-best lists, including Amazon.com's Essential Books for Young Adults and YALSA's Best of the Best Revisited (100 Best Books for Teens 2001).