Who do you think is the intended audience? Why?

I finished Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley and am now reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.

I think that the intended audience is children, young adults, and parents reading to their children. However, the book is so well-written that it is enjoyable and engaging for anyone to read. It is a fantasy/adventure book, and that kind of book are typically directed towards children and young adults. I realize, Dr. Cassell, that this is probably not the kind of book you expect your AP language students to be reading, but I think that if you have read any book from this series you will understand what I mean, and if you haven't you should, because you will really enjoy them.

The heroine is a young girl, probably around age ten or eleven. However, I don't think the book is told from a feminine perspective, and boys will find it just as engaging as girls would. I think that Philip Pullman perhaps wrote this trilogy specifically for children/young adults, but he wrote it so well that those children's parents enjoyed them and chose to read them, too. I think he intended the audience to be children and young adults because part of the book is about not wanting to grow up. Every human in their world has a familiar who changes shape from different animals freely while the human is young. Once the child hits adolescence, however, the familiar chooses a certain animal to be permanently that reflects the human's personality. Lyra, the heroine, likes having her familiar, Pantalaimon, change shape according to what she feels or needs, and she doesn't want to grow up.