Module 8 Artemis Fowl Book 1

Book Summary:

Artemis is a genius, a millionaire and 12 years old and he out shines many doctors. Artemis has dedicated his life to the criminal side. He was following in his father’s footsteps.

Artemis has a manservant, best friend, body guard, named Butler. The two of them are traveling the world to find the book. The book is the Fairy Bible, which if Artemis gets in his hand, he could destroy the Fairy World. Artemis needs to convince the fairy, who has a drinking problem, and dislikes the light, to hand over the book. He tricked her, he gave her a bottle of holy water instead of whiskey. They made a deal, swapping the items she needs to get better for the book. He just needed to look at the book for 30 minutes. They took pictures of each page, and emailed to his home base.

The bottom line is to get control of the Fairy Gold. He needed to get a hold of the fairy that comes topside. The fairy that comes topside is Holly Short a fairy who is an officer in the LEP fairy police.

The People is what the Magical people are called. The Mud people is what humans are called. Between the two, trying to one up the other using technology and good old sneakiness. Artemis was always 3 to 4 steps ahead of the fairies.

Artemis spent plenty of time to decode the book. He found the directions he needed.

When he kidnapped Captain Holly Short, he took on more than he was aware. These fairies were not the lovely sweet ones we are used to reading about, but very dangerous .

APA Reference of Book:
Colfer, E. (2001). Artemis Fowl: Book 1. New York: Hyperion Books For Children.

Impressions:  This is a book that a lot of young boys love to read at my school. They fight over them to check them out. I really did enjoy the book. It is written very well and makes you feel like you are beside them in every step they took. The characters are well defined, and the plots well thought out. Artemis at 12, had to deal with his father disappearance, and his mother being ill from the overwhelming depression from her husbands disappearance. Artemis walks the fine line of being cold heartless and caring as he finds his place in the world his father had brought him into. 
The fairies, Leprauchan, spirits are all described in details, and gives some details about how we, humans, see them and what they think about us. The humor they have and the conflict everyone has in their own lives. 
The battle of wits between The People and The Mud, is a good read and relaxing as you take this trip with them. 

Professional Review:

This is the first installment of the Artemis Fowl series, which continues to grow in success as well as its number of books.
Artemis Fowl is a 12 year old genius born into the Fowl dynasty, that is, he is heir apparent and an already accomplished master of criminal activities that have founded the Fowl empire; he also has every intention of continuing in his father’s footsteps. With his manservant, bodyguard and all round unstoppable man mountain, Butler, Artemis proceeds in his plan to replenish the family coffers with gold…lots of it. But this is no ordinary gold he has set his sights on, this is Fairy Gold, but then Artemis is no ordinary 12 year old.
Having procured a copy of ‘The Book’ the fairy bible, Artemis translates and digests the secrets contained within, allowing him to track and trap a fairy who has come ‘topside’ from the fairy kingdom underground in order to fulfill a magical ceremony. Holly Short is a female officer in the LEP fairy police and as such is considered expendable by some of her senior officers, but thankfully not all of them. This story (sorry, factual account – Artemis Fowl is after all ‘real’) recounts the attempts of Artemis to blackmail ‘The People’, that’s magical folk to you and me, into giving him a rather large chunk of gold and The People try to stop the ‘Mud People’ that’s us humans, from succeeding in their plan and rescuing the kidnapped Officer Short. There is amazing technology used on both sides, the fairies comes courtesy of the resident Centaur, Foaly, who is as adept at crushing one-liners as he is at iris eye cameras and lava lifts. Root is Holly’s permanently purple-faced; bad tempered commanding officer who Foaly takes great delight in riling further. Along with the impressive technology are big, smelly Trolls and Tunnel Dwarfs that can dig at an amazing rate by unhinging their jaws and literally eating the soil as they burrow – no guesses where the soil has to exit!
Artemis is a supremely intelligent child that considers any signs of humility as weakness; however, he is not quite yet the hardened criminal his father was before him so remains a likeable and not completely ruthless character. Butler, his loyal servant is just the type of best friend you dream of having, capable of getting you out of any sticky situation and always on your side, even if they think you’re in the wrong. Holly Short is a LEP rechaun officer and as such has had years of intense and specialized training, so she should stop getting everything wrong at sometime, right?
This book is hugely enjoyable and has just the right mix of fantasy, humor, gadgets and thrills to keep even the most demanding of children entertained. Beware though; if you do buy this book be prepared to buy the rest, as another trick of Artemis Fowl’s is that he is highly addictive! Eoin Colfer has done his homework and knows exactly what his readers are looking for. 
(Floresiensis. (2010, August 1). Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. book review. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/Eoin-Colfer/Artemis-Fowl.html )


Library Uses: 
A good book for bringing another point of view of the magical world that lives around us. This book could be used to give another view, to help students get some other writing techniques. While using some of the "Magical" books, students can find a technique to help them write better.

Module 8 The Case of the Missing Marquess

Book Summary:
Enola is a very sensitive girl. As the youngest of the family, she is desperate to find her mom, who disappeared on her birthday. She finds clues in some of the gifts her mother left her, and as a last result, she had to call her brothers to come in and help. Her brothers are Sherlock Holmes and Mycroft. Enola figures if they can investigate then she should have the same genes to do the same. She takes off and makes it to London, where she is kidnapped and must find a way to escape. She ends up on the same boat as the Missing Marquess. They need to find a plan to get away. Enola and the Marquess do manage to escape and she sent the Marquess in the direction of her brother, Sherlock, who helped to arrest the criminal. Enola grows up, gets a job and helps homeless people in need. She still puts encrypted messages in papers for her mother to read, and then to send her replies. Enola knows her mother is happy and enjoying life.


APA Reference of Book:
Springer, N. (2006). An Enola Holmes Mystery #1: The case of the missing Marquess.. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Impressions:  The book was good, slow in some places, not real clear in description to that a reader could get a good idea on what the author was wanting you to see. The book was interesting, had a great twist on the Sherlock Holmes theme, and Elona is a great character. I like the fact that her mother hit clues in her gifts and then sent encrypted messages to help her figure out her life( Enola) and to help her find peace.





Professional Review:

There is almost nothing ordinary about 14-year-old Enola Holmes. (She is painfully aware that her name spelled backwards is "Alone.") The year is 1880; the place, England. Enola lives on a lovely estate, but there is nothing upper crust about her. Even more unusual is the fact that her much older brothers are the famous detectives Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. And not to mention the fact that Enola's mother has gone missing on the very day of Enola's birthday.
Enola's mother has left her several birthday gifts: a drawing kit, a book about the hidden meanings of flowers, and a cipher book. Enola loves the presents but hates that her mother has disappeared. She wires her brothers to come and help find their mother. Mycroft and Sherlock arrive, only to discover that their mother has been getting money from Mycroft, who handles the estate, under false pretensions. But there's no sign of the missing money or the missing mother. Then, to Enola's shock and horror, Mycroft insists that Enola go away to a snooty girls finishing school.
No way! Enola decides to leave home to find her mother herself. But before she departs, she uncovers a hidden message from her mother, written in the language of flowers, plus a message written in cipher. Acting on the clues, she goes through her mother's beautiful drawings of flowers and finds all the money hidden inside the picture frames. The money was left for her! She puts on a bustle to hide the money in and disguises herself as a widow, wearing her mother's black dress and hat.
After escaping by bicycle and on foot, Enola happens to arrive in the village where the young Marquess of Basilwether has just been kidnapped. Or has he? Enola finds clues as to what really happened and also meets Sherlock's famous associate, Inspector Lestrade. She goes to London, narrowly escaping from Lestrade, only to be kidnapped herself. And, by a not-so-strange coincidence, she finds herself captive on a boat with the Marquess himself!
How do Nola and the Marquess escape from the vicious Victorian villains who kidnapped them? Does Enola ever find her mother? Is Sherlock Holmes able to locate his missing sister? Does Enola end up in a horrid finishing school? All will be revealed in THE CASE OF THE MISSING MARQUESS. No young reader will want to miss it!

Reviewed by Robert Oksner on February 16, 2006

Oskner, R. (2006, February 16). The Case of the Missing Marques. . Retrieved , from http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/the-case-of-the-missing-marquess-an-enola-holmes-mystery

Library Use:
This is just one of those books that is good to read and discuss, how you would have changed a few things in the story. Could you come up  with more encrypt messages, using Enola's or can you come up with your own?