Audrey Gleason Reviews *Amulet Book 2*

Amulet 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse
Kazu Kibuishi
Drawn by Kazu Kibuishi
Colors and Backgrounds by Kazu Kibuishi, Amy Kim Kibuishi, Anthony Go Wu, and Jason Caffoe
Publisher: Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.
Published: September 2009

A continuation from the first book of Amulet: The Stonekeeper, the second in the series, The Stonekeeper’s Curse, places the reader in the dangerous world of Alledia, ruled by malicious elves, where hope can only be found in a twelve-year-old girl, Emily. The graphic novel offers a nice mix of a well-developed storyline and artfully drawn characters.

The Stonekeeper’s Curse is comprised of the viewpoints of the young heroine Emily the Stonekeeper, as well as that of her younger brother, Navin. While both siblings have guidance along their separate, but intertwined journeys, the two adolescents take matters into their own hands and accomplish a great deal individually with help from newly-introduced friends and old allies from the previous book.

Emily and Navin run into elves, cursed townspeople that turn into animals, and wise, old, talking trees. Each of these characters has their distinctive culture, bring a uniquely fictionalized diversity to the story. When Emily and Navin have to part ways, the reader may see how each manages the difficulties of a particular situation the siblings are thrown into and watch the heroes grow. All the while, Emily and Navin struggle with internal conflict of confidence, acceptance of self, and uncertainty of where they may end up.

The intertwined journeys lead Emily and Navin to answers they are looking for, and answers they never knew the question to. The storyline is complex enough to keep the reader’s attention and moves with a cohesive fluidity, making this a possible consideration of being one of the “best of the best” in young adult literature.

As the second book in the Amulet series, it lacks a bit in the variety of subjects and genres. This could be due to how much guidance is seen given to Emily and Navin. Even the evil Trellis has a type of guide, Luger, in his journey to destroy Emily and gain the power of the amulet for himself. All the guidance that is given to the characters has one wondering if the heroes and villain can take credit for all their work.

Unfortunately, if the reader has yet to read the book’s predecessor, The Stonekeeper, they might find themselves lost for a while. The Stonekeeper’s Curse does not introduce main and assisting characters that were previously in the first book. The audience is expected to already be familiar with their backgrounds, and what roles they exactly play. Though, the graphic novel does hint to what happened in the previous story, the reader is left to put all the puzzle pieces together by themselves; which makes the reading of it that much more frustrating.

Overall The Stonekeeper’s Curse has a good entertainment value that young adult readers can appreciate. Emily’s gripping adventure will engage readers who will not only have their fill of a well-written work that captivates real human emotion, all the while entertaining with detailed pictures that is beautifully done through brilliant colors, and an eye for capturing the essence of each character’s feeling.

Any young adult that likes fantasy and adventure will have an enjoyable time reading The Stonekeeper’s Curse. As a warning though, the reader should read the Amulet series in sequential order, so that the story comes across entirely.