Friday, April 17, 2009

CONTEMPORARY REALISTIC FICTION AND FANTASY - ARTEMIS FOWL

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Colfer, Eoin. 2001. ARTEMIS FOWL. New York, NY: Hyperion Paperbacks for Children. ISBN 0786817070

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Twelve year old Artemis Fowl just happens to be a genius that comes from a long line of master criminals, and through the years they have managed to dwindle the family fortune. Artemis comes up with a brilliant scheme to build back the family wealth. All he has to do catch a fairy, and trick the fairies into giving him all of their gold. He was able to obtain a copy of the fairies “BOOK” that contains all of their secrets, kidnapped a fairy, and put a plan into action. Not everything goes according to his plan, and things soon turned into mayhem.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Artemis, last in his line of family criminal master minds, acts strangely like a grown man who is stuck inside of a 12 year old boy. He was able to artfully and carefully devise a plan to capture a fairy, who just happened to be a LEPrecon (an underground female officer). In an attempt to steal her gold, she proved to be much more than what he bargained for. Throughout his quest to steal the pot of gold, Artemis became intimately aware of fairy magic, magical powers, and a whole new world that he could never have imagined. He encountered magical creatures such as the LEP commander Julius Root, and the dwarf named Mulch Diggums who expertly dug tunnels. Not your typical “Good Always Wins” type of fantasy novel, but definitely entertaining!

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
BOOKLIST Review: “Characterizations and dialogue enhance a rollicking tale that will have readers rolling on the floor and eagerly anticipating the planned sequel as well as the movie in the works for 2002.”
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Review: “Fun to read, full of action and humor, this is recommended for all public libraries and to readers of all ages.”

5. CONNECTIONS
Classroom discussions (Venn Diagrams) can be had comparing the lives of “fairies” to the mud people, or their technological advances to the technology of today. Sequels can be read to keep up with the characters. Might be a stretch, but possible could be compared to the Harry Potter stories.
*Sequel Books
Colfer, Eoin. ARTEMIS FOWL: the Arctic Incident. ISBN 9780786248254
Colfer, Eoin. ARTEMIS FOWL: the Eternity Code. ISBN 9780786814930

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