Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

In the delightful second novel in Cornelia Funke's Inkheart trilogy, Inkspell, Dustfinger, Meggie, Mo, Farid, and Resa find themselves transported into Fenoglio's Inkworld. 

Farid and Meggie enter Inkworld by choice while Mo and Resa are taken by force. Dustfinger has already taken up residence in Inkworld with the help of Orpheus.  

Inkworld, though, has irrevocably changed--mostly because of Fenoglio's bumbling attempts to fix plot problems. Amusingly, Fenoglio has lost control of his own story. 

The tyrant Adderhead fears death and a mysterious figure known as "the Bluejay." This legendary person, invented by Fenoglio, creates new problems for Mo and his family.

After reuniting with his fellow minstrels, Dustfinger battles with new villians--the Adderhead and his men. The fire-raisers, Basta and Mortola, have joined the Adderhead's retinue. 

Dustfinger, who always seems self-interested and self-absorbed, commits an entirely selfless act for his young follower, Farid.

The journey Dustfinger undertakes for his friend into the underworld promises to take all of the characters in new directions.  

Tinkercad Contest

If you're a teacher or librarian or parent, consider encouraging your child to enter this Tinkercad Contest:

Enter Now!

The Tinkercad Student Design Contest is for all students who are using Tinkercad. To enter, you simply need to post an instructable showing how you made a Tinkercad 3D design as part of your homeschooling experience. No 3D printer is required!

We are giving away two prizes of $100 gift cards for the following five categories:

Make it Move – To win this prize, you need to demonstrate that you have designed and made something with functioning moving parts.

Connectors – This prize is for any project that encourages the creation of connectors. It can be as simple as an L-bracket for a robot or as complicated as connecting a bicycle to power a blender. We are looking for creativity and functionality.

Silly Solutions – Show us an example of how you identified a problem, or something broken, and used 3D design to create a fix.

Mashup – Show us how you took two of your favorite things (or things from the gallery) and creatively combined them to make something new.

Scene – This prize is for designs of physical spaces, from parks and landmarks to undersea adventures.

If you have never posted an Instructable before, here are some resources to help you get started:

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Contests FAQ

Reach out to us directly at service@instructables.com

Only 29 days left to enter the Tinkercad Student Design Contest!

Book Review: Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Tender Morsels is a strange tale shaped by the interplay of real and magical worlds. As a response to trauma, Liga inhabits a magic world that protects her and her two young daughters. 

Urdda, who is the wilder of the two children, longs to leave the safe haven the moon "bab" has created for her mother. She attempts to rejoin the Bear who has disappeared by jumping up in the air near a cliff's edge. Naturally, this alarms Mam.

"Girls were not meant to fly. Where are your feathers? Where are your wings?" Liga tells her daughter Urdda.

Though she cannot follow this bear, Urdda encounters a second bear.

Eventually, by pushing the walls of the second bear's cave, Urdda leaves her mother's "heaven" or place of her hearts desire.

As soon as Urdda enters this real world, she faces danger. She is chased by a bear--not a real one this time, but a danger nonetheless. She finds her mother's cottage has become a ruin. 

Urdda quickly uncovers Lady Anne's secrets. Lady Anne practiced "hedge" witchcraft against the advice of a more experienced witch. 

Urdda also uncovers Mam's secrets which she immediately regrets. Understanding Mam's situation, Urdda is dismayed that, "she could not go back to that blissful, blessed state of not knowing."

Urdda can only go forward toward her future mission as a witch herself.

If you need another novel marked with strangeness, try Parakeet by Marie-Helene Bertino.

Book Review: Switched on by John Elder Robinson

Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change by John Elder Robinson. 

Robinson undergoes experimental research--allowing his brain to be zapped with electricity--to see if electric stimulation (transcranial magnetic stimulation or TMS) can help improve symptoms of his autism. This is a fascinating journey of self-discovery and personal transformation by the author of Look Me In the Eye: My Life With Asperger's. 

Robinson volunteers to participate in an experimental study at the Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center run by Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone. TMS is currently used to treat depression and alleviate migraines but it has yet to be approved for autism patients. 

Robinson volunteered to participate in the study because he wanted to "fix" himself, as  he puts it, but it leads to a growing interest in autism research. This growing interest, as seen in the end of the book, even leads Robinson towards a new career.  

Science fiction writers explore electric stimulation in fiction. For example, Elizabeth Moon's The Speed of Dark has a fictional protagonist undergo a similar procedure. Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon, that Robinson frequently refers to, examines the life changing consequences of brain stimulation on a fictional character. 

Robinson, however, is the first to write a true account of TMS experiments from the perspective of a person who is on the autism spectrum. 

As shown by his narrative, TMS seems to have the potential to improve a patient's emotional intelligence. One of the hallmarks of autism is the inability to correctly identify emotions in others or, often, in themselves. 

Robinson writes a true account of the pros and cons of the experiment. Some of the TMS sessions have no effect and some give him moving flashbacks and even hallucinations that elicit intense emotions.

Clearly, the pros and cons of this kind of research must be carefully weighed. On one hand, Robinson can finally perceive emotions. On the other hand, relationships with his friends and wife deteriorate.

Robinson is a unique case because though he suffers from emotional blindness he is also a highly intelligent self-taught sound engineer, photographer, mechanic and writer. His disabilities are offset by his unique gifts which have allowed him to succeed in many different occupations.

Though the book may serve to give many parents and relatives hope for new forms of autism treatment, some of the experiences Robinson describes may be unique to his own case. Even so, TMS has enormous potential and warrants further research.