56 pages 1 hour read

Kenneth Oppel

Inkling

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021

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Chapters 1-4

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

Rickman, the Rylance family cat, roams the house looking for food and ends up in Peter Rylance’s art studio. Peter Rylance is a comic book artist who is famous for his best-selling superhero series, Kren. However, Peter has not published anything in over two years. Now, Rickman jumps onto a chair by Peter’s table and watches ink bleed from the sketchbook’s drawings until it creates a fist-sized splotch. The ink splotch tries to escape the sketchbook and eventually breaks free, splashing onto the table. When Rickman playfully paws at it, the ink runs away and hides in the hallway. Rickman keeps chasing the ink until it shape-shifts into the form of a cat and fights back, making Rickman run away.

The ink then explores a poster of “Kren,” Peter Rylance’s most famous character, but it slips down the glass. Frustrated, the ink moves on. It enters the bedroom where a 6th-grade boy sleeps—Peter’s son, Ethan. The ink examines Ethan’s math book, absorbing some of the problems and mimicking the triangles. It then erases parts of a novel’s cover and enjoys the colored ink. Upon discovering an illustration board with poor drawings, the ink absorbs more ink and hides on the page, making itself as small as possible.