The Amber Spyglass ~ Philip Pullman

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (2000)
ISBN: 0-679-87926-9
518 pgs

Classification: YA fiction
Genre: Fantasy, adventure
Age Level: 13+

Reader’s Annotation: In this conclusion to the His Dark Materials trilogy, beings from countless worlds converge to battle the Authority in a cosmic showdown, but the outcome is all down to young Lyra and Will.

Summary: Moving between worlds with the golden compass and the subtle knife, Lyra and Will face incredible dangers and unknown enemies. With help from Lyra’s beloved Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear king, and two tiny spies, Lyra and Will make a journey to a world where only the dead have ventured before. There they make a stunning discovery that can alter the course of history—if only they can manage a safe return to the world of the living. Meanwhile, in a world peopled not with humans but with other intelligent creatures, physicist Mary Malone fashions a spyglass of amber through which she sees that Dust is streaming away at an alarming pace. Unbeknownst to them all, the fate of Lord Asriel’s war against the Authority, and indeed the fate of all the worlds, rests on Lyra, Will and Mary, and their ability to make the right choices at the right time.

Notes: This is book 3 of the His Dark Materials trilogy; the preceding books are The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. The entire trilogy is outstanding, probing at philosophical and theological issues in ways that only the genre of fantasy can.
Flags: 5

Persepolis (Movie)

Based on Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics (2007)
Rating: PG-13

Genre: Animated film, autobiography
Director: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parannaud
Main Cast: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve

Viewer’s Annotation: Marjane struggles to reconcile her cultural identity as her country is torn apart by war and she is increasingly influenced by life in the West.

Summary: Marjane is a child in Tehran, Iran in 1978. In her close-knit family, there is discussion of the shah, the revolution, and communism, but young Marjane is unaffected by politics until her beloved Uncle Anoush is arrested at the start of the Iraq/Iran war. Around her Tehran becomes more and more conservative and when Marjane speaks out against her teacher in school, her parents decide it is best for Marjane to study abroad while life in Iran is so unstable. In Vienna, Marjane studies philosophy, matures into a young woman, and struggles to figure out her place as a foreigner in the Western world. To find herself, she returns to Tehran, but the land she finds upon her return is barely a shadow of the place she knew as a child.

Notes: The animation adds layers of insight, irony and humor that could not be achieved in another medium.
Flags: 5