ISBN-13: 978-1416975892
Genre: Fantasy,
Magic, Vampires, Werewolves, Warlocks, Demons, Angels, Fairies, Romance, Elves, Steampunk
Reading level/
interest age: 16+
Plot summary:
Charlotte, head of the London Institute, is in danger of
losing her position. As a temporary fix, the Consul appoints Gideon and Gabriel
Lightwood to watch over her and instruct the household in fighting techniques.
Tessa, Will, and Jem continue to search for clues regarding Mortmain’s master
plan. They discover an address and quickly leave to verify its validity. During
their observation of the house, Will ends up seeing his sister and worries that
his family may have been caught up in Mortmain’s scheming. He decides to seek
out a local warlock for assistance and breaks down admitting that he is cursed.
The warlock agrees to assist Will and they spend many secret nights together
attempting to summon the demon who cursed him. Becoming discouraged, Will begins
to substance abuse and Tessa and Jem end up finding him in a drug den. Tessa
discovers that Jem is angry at Will for his adventure because the same drug is
what is both killing Jem and preventing him from dying. Some days later, the
group discovers that Jem’s drug is disappearing off the streets. Word is that
Mortmain is buying all of it up. Jem starts becoming sick without the drug
which spurs the residents of the Institute
into action.
Reader’s annotation:
Tessa, Will, and Jem continue their hunt to unlock the
mysteries of Mortmain. Can they stop him before he looses his cloclwork army on
London?
Information about the
author:
“Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran,
Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family,
including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month
living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland
before she was ten years old.
“Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity
in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high
school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her
classmates, including an epic novel called ‘The Beautiful Cassandra’ based on a
Jane Austen short story of the same name (and
which later inspired her current pen name).
“After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where
she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect
tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney
Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of
Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favorite
city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never
to have to write about Paris Hilton again” (Clare, 2014).
Curriculum ties: N/A
Booktalking ideas:
1.
What do you think Mortmain plans to do if he
catches Tessa?
2.
What would you do if your brother betrayed you?
Critical evaluation:
The Infernal Devices
contain many subplots that both add to and take away from the story. This is
what makes the series so interesting in that it does not follow a linear path
from beginning to end. In actuality, the story does not end at all as Tessa is
immortal and remains a minor presence throughout The Mortal Instruments. The amount of characters can be
overwhelming too. This distracts readers from the already complex story and
takes away some element of clarity. Reading Cassandra Clare’s work leaves the
reader’s mind in a bit of a fog afterwards. They have to really focus on
maintaining a clear view of all of the subplots and characters which can turn
into a bit of a headache. Overall, Clockwork
Prince is a good book and part of an even better series with an interesting
plot and cast of characters. Great for anyone who loves fantasy.
Challenge issues: N/A
Why included:
I believe that because this series contains so many
different genre and sub-genre that it will appeal to a wide audience.
Reference:
Clare, C. (2014). My
Bio. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://www.cassandraclare.com/about/
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