I always feel bad for Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer. I feel his series got lost in the hype that was Harry Potter. After all, the first book was published just two years after the first Harry Potter And the Artemis books are good books, really good. The books are about a 12 year old genius who is trying to recover his family's fortune after his dad has mystericously disappeared. Rather than do anything legitimate, he decided to kidnap a fairy and hold it for ransom. The fairy in question is named Holly Short, and she is not one to take kidnapping lying down. It is a simple plot, but one that goes wrong in so many ways and is so much fun to read.
When I got my library last year I decided that I was going to complete our Artemis collection. I quickly ordered the ones needed to fill in the gaps, and started displaying them, and was so disappointed in my student's responses. I think the first chapter in the first book is a little hard for students to follow, so they just stop. But, the ones that have pushed through that have been rewarded with a great story that they love.
Recently they have re-issued the paperbacks with new covers that I covet. I simply love them. In fact, I might buy them for my own collection because I love them so much. The new cover is to the left and the old cover is to the right. See what I mean? They have also released the first two as graphic novels, but I have yet to check those out.
At any rate, I now recommend these books for high fourth and fifth graders, but do think they are easier for sixth and seventh graders to follow. Excellent stories, and my favorite (besides the first) is the sixth book, The Lost Colony, just proving that some series get better the longer they go!
I have some students who LOVE these books and read them all. One of my struggling readers is now hooked on the series, and that makes me very happy.
ReplyDeleteI've tried them twice. Once reading and once listening and for some reason I just can't get into them.