Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer

I really like Eoin Colfer’s sense of humor. He is just so goofy and silly that I can’t help but laugh out loud — much to my embarrassment when I started this book while waiting to meet someone at the local Target! But, seriously… If you like funny stories, Eoin Colfer is a great author to try. And if you like mystery stories, Half Moon Investigations is an awesome book to read. It all starts when 12-year-old Fletcher Moon poses as his father (he’s named Fletcher, too) to study for and graduate from an online detective course. Even though detectives are supposed to stay undetected, Fletcher (a.k.a. “Half Moon”) gets found out — and gets hired to solve a case for one of the popular girls at school. Will the thief just be one of the “usual suspects,” or will he really need to use all of the detective skills he garnered online? Find out for yourself when you read the book!

Happy Reading!

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer

Eoin Colfer is simply amazing! Someone handed me this book, recently, and I couldn’t believe my eyes… I didn’t even know there was a new book, so I figured I definitely had to post about it (in case any of you didn’t know either). Well, let me just say that there are quite a few surprises waiting for you in this one. I won’t give too much away, but I will tell you enough to whet your appetite! For starters, there is an entire race of fairies that haven’t been mentioned before — so there are plenty of new “facts” to learn. There are also new “bad guys” and another threat to both Earth and the peaceful co-existence of humans and the fairy people. Will Holly be able to do anything now that she is no longer a LEP Recon officer? Will Artemis be on the side of the fairies again or will he be helping the “bad guys” this time? Read the book and find out! WARNING: This is a tough book to put down, so don’t start reading it if you have lots of homework to do!

Happy Reading!

Artemis Fowl Files: The Ultimate Guide to the Best-Selling Series! by Eoin Colfer

This is such an awesome book!!! I was supposed to be reading something else first, but I put that on the back burner as soon as I saw that this book was in! It is, apparently, intended to be read between the third and fourth books in the series, but I still enjoyed it even though I read Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception first. Basically, this is a fan guide to the series (hence the subtitle: the ultimate guide to the best-selling series!).

One of the best parts of this book, in my humble opinion, is that is includes a guide to the Gnomish alphabet! I am such a nerd that I figured it out as I read the first book — and am now practically able to read it without looking at a translation chart. I read about as slowly as a first grader, but it’s still pretty fun! The word search and crossword puzzle were pretty neat too, but I am worried that those pages will be destroyed pretty soon… I put a note (in red marker) for people to photocopy those pages rather than writing in the book, so I hope that will work well enough.

Two of the more sizeable sections in the book are the short stories, which I loved. One of the stories is all about how Holly Short became the first female LEP Recon officer. The other was a side story about Artemis. And while I enjoyed getting some more insight into the characters through these short stories, I was slightly disappointed with the character “interviews.” They felt very contrived. The characters’s “voices” just didn’t seem right, somehow. For all the greatness in this book, though, I am willing to put up with one lesser section.

If you love Artemis Fowl, you NEED to read this book! And, if you want more from Eoin Colfer, there is also a teaser from his futuristic book, The Supernaturalist at the end…

Happy Reading!

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer

This is the fourth, and most recent, in the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. Since I have not mentioned any of the other Artemis Fowl books, let me just take a moment to say that they are UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME!!! OK. Now that that is out of my system… A lot of people compare the Artemis Fowl books to the Harry Potter series. I would have to disagree. Other than the fact that they are both teenage boys in a magical world, they have pretty much nothing in common. Harry is looking to figure out who he is. Artemis is trying to make himself known to the world, in an “I’m going to take you over someday” kind of way. If you were looking for a character in the Harry Potter world to whom you could compare Artemis, though, I would have to say that he is very Draco Malfoy.

In this latest installment, Artemis does show a little more compassion for others — and even a desire to be “good.” Is it because of the fairies he has encountered in the past? Is he honestly becoming a better human being? Will Opal Koboi succeed in killing Artemis before he has the chance to do something good? If you want a good read about a rich kid, his body guard, and how they have to work to keep the fairy and human worlds from colliding (again!), you will LOVE Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception!

P.S. If you think you are good enough to crack Foaly’s secret code, go ahead and post your translation as a comment. I would love to know how many LEP Recruits read my blog!

Happy Reading!