Boom!

by Mark Haddon
Scott County Library audiobook 3 CDs
read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
genre: YA SciFi (initially, I thought it was realistic fiction . . . ha!)

This surprised me in a delightful way! First off, I'm a sucker for a British accent. Rhind-Tutt did a great job with the vocal work. (I had to look up "spanner" in British slang - it's a wrench.) This book had me wondering what was next - there were plenty of surprises. In a lot of ways, it's just silly. But I enjoyed it nonetheless!

Jimbo and his best friend Charlie are mediocre students. Jim's sister Becky is dating Terry (aka "Craterface") and there's no love lost between these siblings. Dad is in an unemployed funk, questioning his worth as a man, flying remote controlled planes and helicopters until they crash.

The two boys plant a walkie-talkie to eavesdrop on their teachers and something they hear starts them on a crazy investigation that gets more and more bizarre. I don't want to spoil the story for other readers, but I do want to include a line that made me laugh out loud. (Stop here if you're averse to spoilers.) "They want to repopulate their planet with SciFi fans? Is that wise?" (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it. So funny!) The cafeteria scene also made me laugh, thinking of a cliched romance - "Charlie!" "Jimbo!" as they ran toward one another.

I loved Becky by the end of the story. What a hero! I found this book to be surprising, unexpected, amusing, and suspenseful. I may have to see if Haddon has written other YA books.