Booklist

Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel
Puffin (112 pages) 9780141322964
Very well-constructed plots with a mix of great humour, grand characters and lively action account for the series of Artemis Fowl books going great guns in terms of popularity. Every one of them will be someone's favourite but this edition revisits the first in a comic-book style and is bound to be in demand. It is oddly small in frames and in pictorial images and print, when what is called for is big, over-the-top flamboyance to match the wonderfully outrageous Artemis and the hi-tech fairy world of the story. But that won't bother the committed and the book has a good strong binding which will be necessary to withstand much reading, rereading and examination of every tiny detail by some of the most devoted fans - a sure-fire success.

Joe Craig
Jimmy Coates: Sabotage
HarperCollins (320 pages) 9780007232864
This series about a boy who is far from ordinary, as he has been genetically engineered, has a large readership among early secondary age boys and a number of 11-year-olds are thoroughly enjoying the books too. Here he goes again with the seemingly inescapable NJ7 seeking yet another way to eliminate him even while Jimmy tries to foil a secret plan. Near-misses and narrow escapes crop up left right and centre making for an action-packed ride of a read all the way.

Charlie Higson
Young Bond: Hurricane Gold
Puffin (368 pages) 9780141383910
I heard Charlie Higson say that when he was considering writing these books of the boyhood of Bond he thought of a new boy in a school, when surname use was commonplace, asked his name by a master. The obvious response would be, 'Bond, Sir, James Bond', and things began to fall into place. The great appeal of the books and the eager way each new one is anticipated shows that they fell into place very well indeed. In this fourth adventure, with one more to come, part of the setting is a Caribbean island where criminals can find refuge. In Mexico, where James is staying, the activities of a gang of thieves lead to a gripping trail in the jungle: danger looms, dread fates seem unavoidable, and suspense is brilliantly built and maintained.

Anthony Horowitz and Antony Johnston
Point Blanc: The Graphic Novel
Walker (112 pages) 9781844281121
This is the second of the incredibly successful Alex Rider books turned into comic-strip form. It works really well in this adaptation and will be in great demand with its dramatic picture frames, snappy dialogue and a thriller of a schoolboy spy story. A number of pages have a manga-like appearance with others offering good old comic-style Pow! and Bam! action. The mass of readers already familiar with the books, not to mention the film, will love this and new readers might well find this style of presentation eases adjustment towards reading the original book.