Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

I listened to the audio book version of this book and I think that made it all the more enjoyable. It's read by Lynn Redgrave and she does a great job doing all of the voices.

It's the story of Meggie and her father, Mo. When a mysterious stranger shows up at their house in the middle of the night, it sets off a series of events that will upset their peaceful lives.

The last time Mo read a book aloud, his wife disappeared into the book and some of the book characters came out of the book. Unfortunately, one of those characters is an evil villain who is bent on causing trouble. Mo doesn't know how to control his "gift" and though he has tried to read his wife back out of the book several times, he's never been able to make it happen. As a result, he has always told Meggie that her mother "went away" and all she remembers of her mother is what she can see in an old faded photograph.

The villain decides he likes life "on the outside" better than life in the book, so he gathers up all of the copies of the book he starred in and sets off to destroy them. But before they are all destroyed, he kidnaps Mo to make him bring out one more character...one who's possibly more frightening than even he is.

This is a great story--vividly told and imaginative. It's recommended for ages 10 and up.