Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl
Eoin Colfer
ISBN 078680801-2
Hyperion Books for Children, 2001
279 pages

Genre: Faerie

Readers Annotation
Artemis Fowl is the smartest person on earth and a criminal mastermind. He's kidnapped a fairy and is demanding a metric ton of gold as ransom. And, oh--he's just 12 years old.

Plot Summary
Artemis Fowl, age 12, is probably the smartest person on earth. He comes from a long line of criminals and is himself a criminal mastermind. He and his trusted friend and bodyguard Butler go to Vietnam to track down a medicine woman. Artemis has figured out that fairies really exist and strikes a deal with the woman, an alcoholic sprite, that lets him get a copy of a holy fairy book. He deciphers the book (written in a strange fairy language) and learns that fairies must recharge their magic by performing an elaborate ceremony by an oak tree near a river bend under a full moon. Artemis stakes out all possible locations where this ritual could take place, and eventually his patience is rewarded. He spies Holly, a captain with the fairy police force, kidnaps her and holds her for ransom. In return for her release, he demands that fairies bring him one metric ton of fairy gold, worth an absolute fortune. (Leprechauns, it turns out, did really have a pot of gold.)

The fairies are sure they can outsmart a mere human boy, but Artemis is the smartest person on the planet, after all. Can he stay one step ahead of them?

Critical Evaluation
Despite the fact that this is a book about an evil mastermind and a criminal genius, it's actually fairly lighthearted. The violence is comic, and it reminded me, more than anything, of a sort of magical version of Home Alone, with Artemis outsmarting the fairies time and time again with a neato trick or smart idea. One touch I loved was how the author kept on using some real-life examples to demonstrate how the fairies influence our world.

 Fowl is an interesting character; though he's incredibly greedy and has held Holly hostage to restore his family's wealth and power, in the end he does perform an unselfish act. The fairy chief of police is written as a bumbling character, and teenagers with a bit of an authority problem will enjoy laughing at him. While the reader definitely sympathizes with Holly and hopes she will escape unscathed, half the fun of the book is rooting for Artemis, a bad guy. While the book's language and characterizations are not that sophisticated, it is an original, tightly plotted, fast-paced story. The reader is compelled to keep turning the pages to see how on earth Artemis will get out of this one.  Many people, including the author, have called this a sort of fantasy action novel, and that's about right. The right audience--and I'm thinking boys in junior high and early high school in particular--will absolutely eat this book up.

Other Books in the Series
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (2002)
Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (2003)
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (2005)
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (2006)
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (2008)

About the Author
Eoin Colfer, an Irish author, is best known for the Artemis Fowl books. However, he's written other books for children (like Benny and Omar) and adults (The Supernaturalist series, cyberpunk for adults). He's known for having a great sense of humor, which may be why he was chosen to write the fifth book in Douglas Adams' ever-popular Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

Curriculum Ties
None

Booktalking Ideas
1. Explore the character of Artemis Fowl: genius, criminal mastermind, 12 year old.
2. Talk about fairies in the novel's world. Who are they? What do they do?
3. Talk about the character of Holly and the people in the LEPrecon.

Reading Interest/Level
This book is aimed at early teens in junior high; however, older teens and adults would (and do!) enjoy the series.

Challenge Issues
While there is some degree of violence, it's all rather comical. I do not see this book being challenged.

Selection Criteria
I knew absolutely nothing about this book, other than some people called it the next Harry Potter and that it was extremely popular. When I saw a bunch of copies of it in the teen section of my local library, I decided to give it a try. It was named an ALA Popular Paperback.