As a never-married and childless sort, I'd never had occasion to look for young adult books for boys, so I'd never run across the Artemis Fowl books. Until now.
I'd heard about them in various places, so I thought I'd further my cultural education and give them a shot. They're pretty good. The primary audience is the same group which likes Harry Potter; it's a series in which Our Hero (young Artemis) grows older until, in the latest one, he's reaching puberty at the beginning of the book. The end of that one contains a helluva surprise, so I won't reveal it. Suffice to say it involves time travel.
Artemis starts out in Book One as an aspirant to the title of Earth's criminal mastermind, and he wants fairy powers to help him attain that status. So he kidnaps a fairy. The fairy's bosses aren't pleased and attempt to get her back (she's no Tinkerbelle, this fairy; she's a seasoned cop in the fairy civil service), and Artemis is forced to try to outwit them.
Thus are we introduced to an amusing and often heroic cast of characters, including a centaur filling the role of Q, an M who gets away from his desk, and a kinda-sorta good-hearted dwarf who's a petty criminal. All of them evolve during the four-year sequence the books relate. I imagine if you're a twelve-year old these would hold your interest quite well, and they have the additional advantage of keeping the page count under 300 most of the time. Also, the evil encountered in these books is a little more light-hearted than the one Voldemort represents.
When I was twelve I was reading The Hardy Boys and Rick Brant; the Artemis Fowl books are worthy successors.
Posted by Linkmeister at May 17, 2007 01:35 PM | TrackBackI had never read the Anne of Green Gables series as a child. When we went on vacation and saw the old homestead, I was anxious to read the book. Before I was done, I had downloaded all the Lucy Maude Montgomery books and read them all. Good reading, even if late.
I'll take a look at the Artemis Fowl books at our local library. Thanks
Cas
Posted by: cassie-b at May 18, 2007 05:25 AMYou may also enjoy The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, collectively known as His Dark Material. I have never been one for fantasy books but I could not put these down once I started.
The Artemis Fowl series was going really well until the end of the third book, The Eternity Code. The ending of that book really turned me off. Is there one past that?? If you haven't read that yet, I'd be interested to hear what you think when you do.
Posted by: hedera at May 18, 2007 11:50 AMI have found it surprising how entertaining books for teens can be, not having read many of them in years. Of course, we're getting ahead of the game as our first child is only five, but as prolific a reader as he already is, we want to be sure he has plenty of good material.
And with one, possibley two more on the way, momma and I will probably be at it for a good long time to come - I'm kind of glad we got back together - looking forward to a new baby - kind of intimidated by the strong possability of twins though.
All in all, kids books are very entertaining. Glad to have a (sort of) excuse to reread some of my old favorites. Actually delving into more D'Engle than I read when I was at a more appropriate age.
It may not be so long before some of them are appropriate either. We have already read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and are planning on The Voyage of the Dawntreader slightly editited - the rest will probably have to wait as it would be too much effort to edit out the scary parts.
It shouldn't be more than a couple of years before we get into the Hardy Boys, which I have to say, I am really looking forward to. They will be excellent "pass around" books - i.e. where they get passed around and everyone reads a chapter out loud. Since we managed to convince the five year old that we will still read to him, even though he knows how to read, we have finaly gotten to start doing that - great family fun and far more interactive than watching tee vee. . .
Posted by: DuWayne at May 18, 2007 11:52 AMAh, I followed your link and see that there are 2 books past The Eternity Code. Maybe I'll try The Opal Deception. Maybe.
Posted by: hedera at May 18, 2007 11:53 AMOh, it's worth continuing, hedera. "Opal" isn't bad, but the latest one ("Colony") is quite a kick. Warlocks, demons, fairies, a mercenary spinoff from the ELP...it's got lots.
Posted by: Linkmeister at May 18, 2007 01:25 PMDuWayne, I've been a fan of the better teen novels for most of my adult life. This started, of course, because I began my professional life in a public library, with all the teen literature I could get my hands on, available free. The best "young adult" novels are WELL worth the time to read; although I find C. S. Lewis' religious backstory a little too much. For a brilliantly written young adult series with a totally different philosophical outlook, try Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy.
Posted by: hedera at May 19, 2007 07:21 PM