| "DRAGON RIDER"
Author: Cornelia Funke
Interest Level: Middle Grades (4-8)
ATOS Reading Level: 4.9
AR Points: 16.0
Publisher Recommended Age: 9-12
Publisher: Scholastic/Chicken House Ltd
Book Type: Hardcover
Pages: 544
Book Description:
Firedrake, a young dragon, receives a frightening warning one night: Humans are planning to destroy the valley in which he lives! All the dragons must flee. Their only refuge is a place above the clouds called the Rim of Heaven --- which may not even exist. Firedrake boldly volunteers to go ahead first. As he embarks on his journey, he meets Ben, a runaway boy.
Together, the boy & dragon make their way toward the Rim of Heaven, all the while running a step ahead of Nettlebrand, a monster who will stop at nothing to hunt down Firedrake. Their quest will truly become an adventure like no other.
Book Group Guide:
About the Author:
Cornelia Caroline Funke (born December 10, 1958, in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a multiple award-winning German author of children's fiction. She is best known for her Inkworld trilogy, with the English translation of the third, Inkdeath, to be released on October 7th. The Inkworld books have gained a variety of attention, and critics have praised Funke as the "German J. K. Rowling". Her books are very popular in her native country, and many have now been translated into English. Her work fits mainly into the fantasy and adventure genres. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
On her personal homepage, Funke states that the vital starting point for a good book is an "idea", and if that idea is worth it, to research on interesting topics which support the idea, and to search for appropriate places and characters. With ideas, she said that for her, "they come from everywhere and nowhere, from outside and inside. I have so many, I won`t be able to write them down in one lifetime."
The characters, Funke elaborates, "Mostly they step into my writing room and are so much alive, that I ask myself, where did they come from. Of course, some of them are the result of hard thinking, adding characteristics, manners, etc., but others are alive from the first moment they appear", and pointed out that Dustfinger from "Inkheart" was one of the most vivid characters who ever popped into her mind. For aspiring authors, Funke says: "Read – and be curious. And if somebody says to you: 'Things are this way. You can`t change it' - don`t believe a word."
Funke married printer Rolf Funke in 1981. They have two children, Anna (b. 1989) and Ben (b. 1994). For the next 24 years, the Funke family lived in Hamburg, before they moved to Los Angeles in May 2005. Rolf Funke died of colorectal cancer on 5 March 2006 in a Los Angeles hospital. |
