I know that this book is extremely popular, and I'm definitely not one to believe that censorship is the key to healthy children, but I was amazed and troubled by this book, and by the fact that it's on many school reading lists.Within the first couple of chapters the reader is introduced to the main character who favors a body guard that is trained to kill, tortures and drugs an alcoholic fairy (yes, I understand the humor of it, but I'm not sure it's a good message to send to kids), and is the youngest member of a family with a long criminal history. Artemis has no redeeming qualities, and he is, as one reviewer put it, "a nasty little boy." Definitely not someone I want my daughter looking up to. If this was a book for teens I wouldn't have a problem with it, but there is no way my kid is going to read it before the age of thirteen.