Middle Grade Monday: Books Set in Ireland

 Happy Monday and Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘

Here are a few middle grade books set in Ireland

Lost in Ireland (formally titled Lucky Me)

Artemis Fowl

The Ministry of Suits

Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles

Where the Heart Should Be

Breda's Island

Have you read any of these?

Books set in Ireland

 Just in time for St. Patrick's Day...

Book List:

Lucky Me

Paris is Always a Good Idea

Love & Luck 

Artemis Fowl

An O'Brien Family Christmas 

Mini Book Talks (1)

I'm off to the middle school this morning to talk books to a bunch of seventh graders. This is the second time book talking at the school and it's great. I love seeing all the kids. But I really love the format. There are three of us talking about our favorite books. We line up the books on book carts. We each pick one book to book talk and then we ask the students what books they want to know more about. It gets everyone talking about books, which is fantastic.  Here are some of the books I'm bringing to talk about.

Criminal Mastermind vows to take over the world - nope not the President. A 12 year old boy from Ireland. He's going to kidnap a fairy and demand ransom to bank role his plan.

 Best friends like spying on the neighborhood at night, until one night when they see a crime scene at their guidance counselor's home. No one believes them. The guidance counselor claims she was pickling beets. But she's lying about something the girls are determined to prove it.

 What would you do if one morning you woke up to discover that you were actually a Princess?

 Kaitlin's dreamed of becoming a figure skating champion, but after she throws a major hissy fit on the ice, both her coach and her skating club decide not to work with her anymore. No one will take her - except the worst skating club ever.But if she wants to follow her dream, she'll need to pick herself back up and get to work. 

 Tommy's dad dies in a fire. Tommy, his sister, and his mother must learn to live without him. Tommy becomes angry at the world and a little reckless both on and off the football field. His behavior makes people start asking questions - should he be on the field with all this rage? Tommy lives for football, but if he can't control himself, it just might be one more thing of the past. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters on a deserted island

So this week's topic is characters you'd want with you on a deserted island...and mine might be a little different than others. And I didn't quite make it to 10.

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish

Hermoine - to talk about books, her magical bag, and her amazing magical skills.

Princess Mia - surely Genovia will send people looking for her

Katniss - she could catch food, if all else failed

Kat Bishop (Heist Society) - if anyone could find a way off the island, it would be her

Sera (Deep Blue) - she might be able to find us a way off the island by way of water

Gilbert - you do need a guy on the island and I believe he was my first book boyfriend

Artemis Fowl - with his smarts, he could also find a way off the island

Plus, a dog. Because you always need a dog. Right now I'm blanking on a dog character (one that doesn't die), but it's important to have a dog.

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian

The last Artemis Fowl comes out July 10th.I think the cover is great - but I hate when the art changes direction midway through the series.... I hate it when a great series ends. Are you excited to read the end???

Can't wait until then, read the first chapter here

Review: Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex

Artemis isn't right in the head. He's having a touch of OCD - talking in words of 5 or rearranging items on his desk. He's also feeling paranoid. Plus, he has an idea to save the world.

After sending Butler off on a bogus mission, he meets the new commander, Foaly, and Holly Short to explain his latest idea in Iceland. Just before he demonstrates the new technology - a large space vehicle appears.

It's one of Foaly's more brilliant designs - but now it's under someone's control and that someone is using it for deadly purposes. As they attempt to escape the deadly area, Artemis is hit and undergoes a personality switch.

Holly must hold everything and everyone together while trying to escape the situation and uncover the meaning behind their attack. Unfortunately, she could really use Artemis's crafty criminal skills but for now, she must deal with Orion. Can Artemis fight through the Atlantis Complex (a disease enabled by the combination of guilt and fairy magic) in time to help save the people he loves and his mind?

My Thoughts: I love Artemis Fowl. He's such an evil genius but also a great character to root for. Right now he's struggling with his past actions and feels tempted turning to the good side. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it's interesting to watch the struggle. I love the side kicks of this book. I love the relationship between Butler and his sister and their crazy athletic ability to kick butt anytime anywhere. I love Holly Short - she's feisty and sarcastic, always breaking the rules, and she has a good heart. I can't wait to see what will happen next.

The Cover: Cool - very cool.

Source: My Library

Favorite Line: "You couldn't just punch him in the head," grumbled Butler, leading Foaly past her. "Boo-hoo. Help me, I'm a girl. What kind of modern woman are you?"

Fun : Here's a music video produced by Disney Hyperion with pictures from the graphic novels

Artemis Fowl: Middle School Book Club pick for December

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Strange Question

I recently read (in the PW article on boys and reading thanks to Max) that Artemis Fowl is over. And I didn't know this. If fact, in reading the last book, I thought there were more to follow. Can anyone clear this matter up for me?

After some research I uncovered this:
Colfer has indicated on his blog that this may be the final installment in the series, and it is definitely the last Artemis Fowl book for at least three years as he concentrates on other projects.

But it doesn't really answer my question and the Time Paradox didn't seem like the series ended.
Thoughts on the matter?
I, for one, will be really sad if this is the case....