Andrew Donkin and Eoin Colfer address a packed gymnasium at Heritage Middle School.
Thanks to sponsorship from the Westerville Public Library, authors Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin visited Heritage Middle School on Tuesday morning, September 4, to discuss Illegal, a powerful and timely story about one boy’s epic journey across Africa to Europe. This graphic novel for children, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano, features glorious color artwork throughout. It tells the tale of Ebo, whose sister left months ago. Now his brother has disappeared too, and he knows it can only be to make the hazardous journey to Europe. His epic trip takes him across the Sahara Desert to the dangerous streets of Tripoli, and finally out to the merciless sea. With every step, he holds on to hope for a new life and a reunion with his sister.
Illegal was named as the Children’s Book of the Week in both The Times and in The Observer. It won the Judges’ Special Prize at Children’s Book Ireland Awards and was shortlisted for Children’s Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards.
Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen) is the New York Times best-selling author of the blockbuster Artemis Fowl series as well as Airman; Half Moon Investigations; The Supernaturalist; Eoin Colfer’s Legend of... books; The Wish List; Benny and Omar; and Benny and Babe. He was born in Wexford on the southeast coast of Ireland in 1965, where he and his four brothers were brought up by his father (an elementary school teacher, historian and artist of note) and mother (a drama teacher). He first developed an interest in writing in primary (elementary) school with
gripping Viking stories inspired by history that he was learning in school at the time.
Andrew Donkin is the author of more than 60 books and graphic novels for children and adults. His books have been translated into 30 languages around the world and have sold some eight million copies in the last decade. Working closely with Colfer, Donkin adapted four Artemis Fowl books into full-length graphic novels for Hyperion. His original fiction has been published by HarperCollins, Hachette, and Scholastic. His non-fiction books have appeared on the lists of Bloomsbury, DK, and Scholastic. His work in comics includes Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight for DC Comics, 2000AD, and Doctor Who. He happily believes he is the only writer alive to have written for the characters of Batman, Superman, Doctor Who, and Artemis Fowl.