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.