Book Review: The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman)

By Eric M.

This book is the story of Lyra, a young girl who grew up in Jordan College in Oxford. The world that Lyra lives in is similar to ours in many ways yet there are a few a key differences. One main difference is that in Lyras’ world people have daemons. Daemons are a part of a person and during childhood a daemon can take the shape of animals at will but at the age of puberty a child’s daemons takes one form and keeps it throughout the persons life. Lyra is a fierce young girl that is an accomplished liar and is full of pride from her upbringing in such a lucrative college. She has a powerful uncle and the love of all at the college. In the book Lyra struggles against many hardships has many close calls makes enemies and makes more allies. It is a gripping tale of a girl living her harsh life trying to do what’s right and having to make many tough decisions. I think this would be a good read for any teenager.