Books

High-flying fun

By Tatat Bunnag

Colfer returns with a new adventure

TITLE: Airman
AUTHOR: Eoin Colfer
DISTRIBUTOR: Asia Books

Irish author Eoin Colfer has penned many highly acclaimed books for young people. He is best known for his award-winning Artemis Fowl series.

Colfer brings his trademark combination of fairytale fun and hard-hitting action to the genre of mystery fiction, throwing in a lot of humour and some brilliant kids. With Airman, the best-selling author has come up with an entirely different hero, Conor Broekhart, a boy genius who�s obsessed with flying.

THE BOY WHO COULD FLY

The story of Airman is set in the late 19th century, just before the age of flight. Born in a hot-air balloon, young Conor is brilliant at fencing and has always looked to the skies for inspiration.

Conor demonstrates his heroic qualities early in the book, when he rescues pretty Princess Isabella from a burning tower by using a flag as a parachute. In the first few chapters, it�s easy to feel jealous of Conor�s charmed life, but the story of Airman takes off with at blast in chapter four.

UNFRIENDLY SKIES

Airman takes on a new twist when Conor is imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit and begins drawing plans for flying machines on the walls of his jail cell. These ingenious machines are the key to his freedom.

Although Airman starts out a bit slow, it eventually transforms into a spellbinding tale. Highly recommend for anyone who likes adventure and plot twists, Colfer�s latest is a great book for advanced middle-grade readers, high school students or adventure fans of any age.

	obsessed (v): to completely fill your mind so that you cannot think of anything else parachute (n): a device that is attached to people or objects to make them fall slowly and safely when they are dropped from an aircraft twist (n): an unexpected change or development in a story or situation imprison (v): to put somebody in a prison or another place from which they cannot escape spellbinding (adj): holding your attention completely