The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman tells the tale of an exciting adventure about a young orphan girl named Lyra Belacqua. Some of the main characters were Roger; Lyra’s best friend, Pan; Lyra’s daemon, Iorek; the polar bear, and Lyra.  My favorite character was Iorek because he was powerful but had a good heart.  One of my favorite adventures that Lyra had was when she journeyed into the experimental lab where mysterious and unsettling events occurred.  

I found this book very exciting but could not truly relate to any of the human characters.  However, I did share some similarities with Lyra’s daemon Pan, because we both try to help others and have a knack for persuading others to do the right thing.

This book is very exciting and you won’t want to put it down.  It is literally a page-turner, all 399 pages.  My favorite part of the book was the vicious, fight to the death armored bear fight.  My least favorite part is when lyra's mom took her.  You have to read it to believe it.

I would highly recommend this book to a reader that likes adventure and suspense.  This book is not for the faint hearted, as there are some graphic descriptions.  It is also not recommended for young readers who might have difficulty understanding and following the plot.