The Stonekeeper

The Stonekeeper (2008) is the first graphic novel in the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi. The novel is aimed at young adults and brings together elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It follows protagonist Emily Hayes as she attempts to rescue her mother from dangerous creatures that come from an alternate version of Earth. Emily’s brother, Navin, helps her on this quest, and they also have a mysterious yet powerful amulet that aids them.

Kibuishi used to work as an animator for Shadebox Animations. His favorite graphic novels—Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki and Bone by Jeff Smith—inspired him to write his own novels. Before The Stonekeeper, Kibuishi wrote several works, including the critically acclaimed graphic novel anthology Flight, and Copper, a webcomic that quickly grew in popularity. Since its release, the Amulet series has sold more than seven million copies in North America and has been featured in several “best of” lists such as Library Journal’s list of 33 graphic novels for reluctant readers and Book Links’s list of 26 high-quality graphic novels for elementary school children.

This guide refers to the 2008 Scholastic paperback edition of the text.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss a car accident and deaths of family members.

Plot Summary

Emily Hayes, a 12-year-old girl, is in a car with her parents, Karen and David, as they drive through the mountains. David swerves to avoid another car, and their car goes over the side of the mountain. While Emily and her mom survive the crash, her dad dies.

Two years later, Emily, her mom, and her younger brother, Navin, are forced to move into an old family house in the country because they can no longer afford living in the city. The house belonged to Karen’s grandfather, an eccentric old man named Silas who mysteriously disappeared one day. In the library, which is full of curious artifacts and books, Emily finds a strange amulet that she quickly takes and begins wearing around her neck.

That night, the power goes out, and the amulet warns Emily that she must protect her family. When Karen goes to investigate a thumping noise in the basement, she is swallowed by a large tentacled monster called an arachnopod. Emily and Navin go looking for their mom and enter a cellar door in the basement that transports them to another dimension. They come face-to-face with the arachnopod and try to free their mom, but they fail.

The amulet speaks to Emily again and tells her that if she wants to find her mom, she needs to find her great-grandfather Silas Charnon, who lives nearby. They are attacked by several creatures on the way, but Emily uses the amulet to repel them. Silas’s house is perched atop a large rock in the middle of a body of water. As they try to figure out how to get to it, a rowboat approaches them, and a large figure gets out. Emily and Navin run and hide but encounter an evil-looking elf that has been following them (later revealed to be named Trellis). Before the elf can attack them, the large figure from the boat shoots the elf with a stun gun and urges Emily and Navin to follow him. As they row toward the house on the rock, the large figure explains that the amulet is a gift from Silas and that the elf is after it.

Inside the Charnon House, the large figure that helped them is revealed to be Miskit, a small robotic bunny that piloted a mechanized suit. Miskit introduces Emily and Navin to Silas, who is dying. Silas claims that once he dies, the amulet will pass to Emily, and she will have to decide whether or not to accept it. If she accepts the amulet and learns to master it, she will gain the power to rule Alledia (the alternate version of Earth they are in) and may even be able to turn back time. Before dying, Silas instructs his team of robots, led by Miskit, to help Emily. Navin doesn’t trust Silas or the amulet, but once Silas dies, Emily quickly accepts it, becoming a stonekeeper.

Miskit helps Emily and Navin locate the arachnopod carrying their mom, and they try to intercept it. They engage a group of arachnopods and attempt to stop the one carrying Karen by using a harpoon, but to no avail. Emily takes matters into her own hands and jumps onto one of the arachnopods. She controls it using the amulet and almost manages to free her mom. However, Navin and Miskit are being attacked by the other arachnopods, so Emily returns to save them.

Afterward, Emily climbs up a mountain in pursuit of the arachnopods. Once she reaches the top, she sees Trellis waiting for her. He kills the arachnopod that has Karen, and he then grabs Emily by using an amulet of his own. He tells Emily that he wants her help to kill his tyrannical father, the Elf King, but she refuses. Emily fights back using her own amulet, and she gains the upper hand. Her amulet urges her to kill Trellis, but she decides to spare him, warning him to never return.

Emily gets her mother back to the Charnon House; Karen is unconscious since she was poisoned by the arachnopod. One of Silas’s robots suggests that they might find the antidote at the nearest town, Kanalis, and reveals that the entire house can transform into a giant robot to transport them there. The novel ends with the robot house climbing out of the cavern they’re in and beginning the journey to Kanalis.