I met Eoin Colfer’s writing for the first time in a collection of short stories called Guys Read: Funny Business. In the story ”Artemis Begins”, Colfer describes his mischievous brother Donal, the “young criminal mastermind.” In the story, Donal agrees, for a price, to help his baby brother Niall avoid punishment. The plan: push Niall down the stairs so that his mother’s concern for his health will override her anger over a broken crystal plate.
Brilliant, yet cruel. And from that, the idea for the Artemis Fowl series was born.
After reading “Artemis Begins”, my oldest son found and devoured every book by Eoin Colfer that he could find. Sadly, it took me until December to finally indulge in more of Colfer’s writing. I found Artemis Fowl on CD at the library and decided we could listen to it during our long commutes to sports practice.
Colfer didn’t disappoint.
A compelling lead
I both admire and cringe at Artemis Fowl. He’s twelve, alarmingly intelligent, and obscenely wealthy. He hatches deceptive plans of questionable moral virtue and executes them with unrelenting fortitude. Often, he lies.
And yet, I like this precocious kid. A lead character must be one that readers can identify with, or pity, or admire. I respect Artemis’s intelligence and his perseverance. He likes to over prepare. So do I.
Besides that, in book one, his father has disappeared, and his mother has gone a little psychotic because of it. So pity pulls me in too.
Quick moving plot
With his father presumed dead, Artemis resolves to maintain the family’s wealth by stealing gold- from fairies. His plan involves blackmail, kidnapping, and a hefty amount of dynamite. To keep young male readers interested, Colfer also includes ample discussion of bodily functions. One character, an earth eating dwarf, requires a “bum flap” in his pants. I won’t elaborate here.
The climactic ending includes an epic battle between a troll and a well trained human body guard that kept every listener in my van extremely attentive. Even the husband who usually sleeps to audio books and the six year old with limited attention span.
And if I haven’t convinced you yet, let me add that a witty and humorous tone runs through the entire book. Plenty of word nerdy words and subtle meanings to keep your brain working.
I plan to get Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident for our road trip to Disney.
For more recommended reading for boys, see www.guysread.com.
Have you read Artemis Fowl or any of Colfer’s other books? Can you think of another lead that inspires both love and hate?
Thanks for joining the discussion!
Julia
Okay, now I’m intrigued. You’ve mentioned it and so did Donald Maas in his brilliant book “Writing the Break-Out Novel.” A protagonist that is not necessarily honorable but you still like him? Curious… Would you start with the beginning book or will any of them do? I think my kids have a book or two. Thanks for the recommendation!
I woutld definitely start with the first book. You’d need it to appreciate things that happen later. Also, Artemis ages as the series progresses- I think it’s best to start with young Artemis. Note: in book two, he helps the fairies out…
I’m not going to lie … I’ve started to read more and more young adult literature as I get further into my 20s. I think mainly because I spent my adolescence reading Shakespeare, Austin, Hugo, etc. Now I get to be a kid when I read. I haven’t read AF, but now I really want to. And I think I’ll be making the recommendation that the summer staff I usually work with get some copies for the boys who like to read (it’s so hard to find books they’d like, but this sounds like one of them). As for book characters who inspired both love and hatred … Katniss Everdeen. Ha-ha, I so wanted her to be victorious in everything, but I also so wanted to reach through the pages and punch her in the face half the time. She’s up there with Jane Eyre for me among characters you want good things for but also just … ugh. 😉
Wow Khara! I’ve not heard many people say that they wanted to punch Katniss- everyone seems to love her, so I’m glad you shared this perspective. And I’m totally with you on Jane Eyre- I did want to shake some sense into her a few times…
I’m always looking for books my boys will love. So, I will have to remember this one Julia. Thanks for sharing such a compelling review. 😉
Love, Hester 🙂
Many of my male middle schoolers loved Artemis Fowl, but I never did get around to reading it. We did read alouds (yes, even in middle school- to model appropriate reading fluency and for class discussions) and I often read stories from Guys Read. I loved that book. It was such a great collection of middle school appropriate stories!
Emily- I have read that middle school is the time when boys often stop reading, so I’m glad that you found a book to keep them interested. And Guys Read is just one book in a series of collections from Guys Read. They also have Thriller and Sports short story collections with pieces from popular authors.
It’s funny you should post this. I am reading Artemis Fowl to one of my reading classes (and not my high one), and yesterday as I finished a chapter, one of the students said, “I’m not sure who to root for.” This caused others to chime in and say, “Well, Holly of course. Because she’s the one who was kidnapped.” Others said, “Artemis.” So, I asked them why they were rooting for the 12 year old evil genius, and one of them said, “He’s the main character.” Another said, “There’s a whole series about him, so I know he must win in the end or turn good or something.” And they preceded to make a series of statements and predictions that let me know just how well they understood narrative structure and the pattern of a series. Awesome!
Thanks Dianne- what great insights you share! I think AF would be an awesome book to get kids interested in reading – I love hearing about these reactions. Great discussion!
When I asked my kids about it, my oldest son says he likes Artemis because he’s 12 (like my son), has all of those cool gadgets, and he is so smart. My son also pointed out that at times Artemis shows some regret or remorse for the things he does and does seem to have a heart. 🙂