The Supernaturalist

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

In the not-too-distant future, in a place called Satellite City, thirteen-year-old Cosmo Hill is unfortunate enough to come into the world unwanted by his parents. And so, as are all orphaned boys his age, Cosmo is dipped in a vaccine vat and sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys, where he and all the other orphans are used a guinea pigs.

Cosmo knows that he must escape, even though he has no idea what might be waiting for him on the outside. He plans for the moment when he can make a break. When that moment finally comes, he nearly dies while escaping. But he is rescued by a gang of "Supernaturalists," a motley crew of kids who all have a special psychic ability — one that Cosmo is about to learn he has as well.

This was a fantastic read. Definitely more mature than the Artemis Fowl books (I heard Colfer interviewed on NPR years ago in which he spoke about how he intentionally did not kill of characters in the Artemis Fowl books. This was when the interviewer was talking about the similarities--or not--to the Harry Potter books). Similar, in many ways, to Scott Westerfeld's Uglies.

I'm not sure if Colfer is planning on writing a sequel to The Supernaturalist, but he definitely leaves open the possibility and does it in such a way that the sequel could be different enough from the first to be successful.