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    Boom!
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    Boom!
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    Boom!
    Audiobook3 hours

    Boom!

    Written by Mark Haddon

    Narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    An explosive, highly charged, and hilarious middle-grade adventure from Mark Haddon, acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

    From the moment that Jim and his best friend, Charlie, bug the staff room and overhear two of their teachers speaking to each other in a secret language, they know there's an adventure on its way.

    But what does "spudvetch" actually mean, and why do Mr. Kidd's eyes flicker with fluorescent blue light when Charlie says it to him? Perhaps Kidd and Pearce are bank robbers talking in code. Perhaps they're spies. Perhaps they are aliens. Whatever it is, Jimbo and Charlie are determined to find out.

    There really is an adventure on its way. A nuclear-powered, one-hundred-ton adventure with reclining seats and a buffet car. And as it gathers speed and begins to spin out of control, it can only end one way . . . with a BOOM!


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 11, 2010
    ISBN9780739381380
    Unavailable
    Boom!
    Author

    Mark Haddon

    Mark Haddon has written a number of successful picture books with HarperCollins, including Sea of Tranquility, illustrated by Christian Birmingham, and is best known for his novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. He lives in Oxford with his wife and two sons.

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    Reviews for Boom!

    3.5/5

    151 ratings23 reviews

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    • 4/5
      As an avid fan of Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (among my 25 favorite books within the past 15 years, I stumbled upon "Boom!" at my local library. I'm not generally a fan of science fiction or fantasy, but I found this young adult work to be an entertaining some occasionally hilarious romp. The characters were delightful and the story line quite inventive. Haddon was smart not to let the yarn drag on longer than warranted -- as some authors are inclined to do if their tomes are too thin. It's probably not a tale that I'll remember a year from now, but it was a fun summer diversion.
    • 3/5
      Plus a half star. I really liked it. I love lot's of things about his children's books from Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars onwards. One is the way the girls and boys are all active agents - things happen to them but they always put a finger, or a fist in to make a difference to the outcome. May or may not work but they go on acting. And also the way he pushes situations beyond normal and into farce. Makes me laugh and cheer the characters on.
    • 5/5
      Extremely fun, witty, fast-paced and silly. Love the little decorative drawings in the DFB edition too. Must have a good sense of the absurd and enjoy creative use of language to enjoy fully.
    • 2/5
      Funny moments but quite, quite odd.
    • 2/5
      The story was fast-paced. If a kid wants a story to move, move, move, this is a great choice. But just not for me. A couple story elements reminded me of THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY, and not in a good way, really. DOG IN NIGHT TIME was much, much better.
    • 4/5
      VOYAAs Mark Haddon explains in his foreword, this story was originally published as Gridzbi Spudvetch! (Walker, 1993)—long before the author achieved renown with his international best-seller, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Doubleday, 2003/VOYA December 2003). Besides simplifying the title, Haddon substantially revised the text of this science fiction comedy. Jim, the narrator, and his best friend, Charlie, are a pair of cheerful troublemakers in their early teens. Jim's older sister, Becky, and the parents of both boys are hilarious characters, and the family dynamics are quite entertaining. After overhearing two of their teachers speaking in what sounds like code or a foreign language, Jim and Charlie decide to investigate, and soon find themselves caught up in a series of wild adventures with extraterrestrials. Following suspected aliens all the way from the south of England to the remote Scottish island of Skye, Jim, Charlie, and Becky are captured, but manage to escape from a planet in the "Sagittarian Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy," foil a dastardly alien plot, and save the world. This science fiction romp is very much in the spirit of Bruce Coville's My Teacher Is an Alien (Pocket Books, 1989), and such Daniel Pinkwater classics as Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy From Mars (Dutton, 1979) and Borgel (Macmillan,1990/VOYA April 1990). The inspired nuttiness of the encounters between eccentric humans and poorly-disguised extraterrestrials will remind some readers of the Men in Black films. This is a wholesome, rollicking, high-spirited caper, ideal for tweens and early teens, including male reluctant readers.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this one a lot. Two boys "accidentally" overhear two of their teachers talking in a strange language and determine to track their teachers to figure out what's up. When the teachers' eyes start to glow they know something is seriously wrong. This one takes some strange twists, but a few of the secondary characters are a laugh. I stumbled upon this one by accident but couldn't put it down.
    • 5/5
      Boom! is a very entertaining and imaginative book that is a good fit for upper elementary and middle school readers. It isn't overly long (almost 200 pages) so it won't overwhelm less enthusiastic readers.Jim lives in England with his parents and older sister, all quirky characters. But other characters are even more quirky -- Jim and his best friend Charlie eavesdrop on the teachers' lounge and hear two teachers speaking in a freaky language, which actually turns out to be from a different planet. When the aliens learn that Jim and Charlie have learned too much they come after them, and Charlie is abducted while Jim and his sister go searching for him. Jim and Charlie end up in the other planet with giant spiders guarding them until they are sent back down to earth to quickly figure out why the "Watchers" have been disappearing or they'll be incinerated. There's adventure, it's not too scary, and I think it would be a great read-aloud with lots of funny parts. I hope it takes off.
    • 4/5
      What do you do when you overhear your teachers talking in a stange language and you think they are plotting to blow Earth. Oh course you take matters into your own hands. Take this fun ride and find out if they do save the world!
    • 4/5
      I think this would be a great book to put in the hands of those notorious young boy 'reluctant readers' - with the exception of any who wouldn't understand all the British references. That could throw off some of the young Americans with little world (or word) knowledge.Fun and quirky story - when they overhear a couple teachers speaking in a language they don't recognize, Jim and Charlie start to investigate what's going on. Well, Charlie does - Jimbo tries to stay out of it, but when Charlie disappears and he's the only one with a clue about how it might have happened, Jim (with some help from his sister) has to set out to find Charlie. A deserted cabin near a loch in Scottland has this strange blue light and when Jim gets closer to investigate, he is soon reconnected with Charlie.....but now they both need to escape. A witty adventure story with a few twists and turns, although somewhat predictable. Could probably be made into a fun movie, really. Not the same enjoyment as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time from Haddon, but this is certainly geared toward a younger audience.
    • 3/5
      Hilarious. The plot is so ridiculous and unbelievable, but thats what makes it so fun. It's a great book, especially for middle school boys. My favorite characters were sister Becky and her boyfriend Craterface. They were great.
    • 4/5
      A children's book authored by Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, Boom is a science fiction story that will be of interest to middle level readers. The short sentences, large print, and good use of white space make it an approachable book for reluctant or less able readers. The is interesting and the book is extremely funny in places. That being said, it isn't a smooth read; in some places it bogs down and in others, it seems to lack smooth transitions between ideas.For teachers, Boom would be a great book to use to teach visualization. There are numerous passages that lend themselves to this particular strategy, and readers will find it helpful to stop to construct mental images from the rich descriptions Haddon provides throughout.
    • 2/5
      It took me a ridiculous amount of time to finish this book! I just could NOT get into it. I really liked the Curious Incident ... book and was excited to start another by the same author, but this one really didn't do much for me. Started off strong and I thought I was going to like it, but the plot just left me uninterested. I do think that there are a few boys who might find this amusing, which is why it will be going on the shelves rather than the garbage, but really it did nothing for me. My biggest problem is that two young schoolboys are the only people to discover an extremely loud Weff_Beam tube that transports humans to another planet. Fine - it was on an island, but how is it that lots of other people didn't notice? I wasn't able to suspend my disbelief long enough to get into the story, and usually I can, so whether it was me or the book remains to be seen. I'll wait and see what my students think of it.
    • 3/5
      Jim and Charlie's scheme to bug the staff room takes an unexpected turn when they find out that two of their teachers are actually aliens. While this sounds like a great premise, the book was not really that interesting and not at all hilarious (as it was billed). It has a drawn-out set up and then when they actually get to the planet and meet the aliens, it's kind of rushed and confusing. This is definitely not as well put together as Haddon's 'Curious Incident of the Dog in the NIght-Time', though it might appeal to some 6th-8th grade boys. If you are looking for a good, new sci-fi read for middle-schoolers, I would recommend Mark Teague's 'Doom' over this one.
    • 4/5
      This book was originally published in 1992 under the great title Gridzbi Spudvetch! But Mark states that he thinks the title didn't entice sales, as no one knew how to pronounce it or had any idea as to the content of the book. As a result the book went out of print. However a call for it to be republished came and Mark has just rewritten the story; introducing it to a new audience and I'm really glad he did. This is a great family read which will pull in all readers, of any age. It's a really fun adventure which involves a trip to another planet and back, as part of a galactic mission to save Planet Earth. The adventure starts when two school friends (Jimbo and Charlie) bug their teachers' staffroom to find out if Jimbo is going to be sent away to a Special School. But on listening to the overheard conversations of the teachers, they find two of the more 'quirky' teachers talking a strange language. Subsequently this sends them on a mission to find out the mystery behind them.I found the mix of humour and descriptive language particularly enjoyable to read. The story flowed from page to page in this gravity-action madness. The narrative voice was well written and the on-going plot was not predictable. In fact it became a very addictive read; to the point of the pages being turned faster than a rocket setting off on a space mission to the moon! This book adds another feather to Mark's cap as he has managed to write yet another good quality book, alongside his other published gems. This book gets a big four out of five as it is a great read for the younger person, we could do with more books as exciting as this one.
    • 3/5
      Jimbo and Charlie are ordinary school kids in England who overhear two of their teachers talking in a strange language. They investigate further discovering strangers details and putting their lives into danger.  I'm not saying it's aliens...but, aliens?  Jimbo and his sister Becky have to unite to rescue Charlie on an adventure that takes them out of this world.  This book is quirky and fun.
    • 3/5
      odd, but fun story.
    • 3/5
      This science fiction novel was about two boys names Jim and Charlie who are close friends. These friends discover two of their teachers talking in a different strange language. With further research, they discover that their teachers wear bracelets and "recharge" with these bracelets and they say "spudvetch" to one another. Charlie goes missing and Jim knows it was the aliens who took him, because they were being threatened by the aliens. Jim and his sister go on a trip to Scotland to save Charlie and eventually they end up in a different dimension of the world. Charlie and Jim end p escaping the world and going back home, and the sister drives them on the motorcycle home.
    • 4/5
      Tells of the hilarious, but suspenseful adventure of Jimbo and his friend Charlie as they seek to find out why two of their teachers are secretly speaking a strange language with each other. When they visit Mrs. Pearce's home and find more clues pointing to something amiss, they are on their way. They take their brass bracelets and get ready to visit another land, with reluctant help of Jimbo's older sister.AR level: 4.1 MGRecommended for: middle school
    • 5/5
      i like this writer's (Mark Haddon) books and wanted to read others by him even if it was junior fiction.
    • 5/5
      Jim and his best friend, Charlie, decide to plant walkie-talkies in the teacher’s lounge in hopes of overhearing the teachers speaking ill of the boys. Instead, they heard two of their teachers, Mr. Kidd and Mrs. Pearce, speaking in a funny language. Charlie decides that they need to investigate and tail the teachers, but Jim decides it is too risky. So, Charlie begins to follow Mr. Kidd and Mrs. Pearce to get to the bottom of things. When Charlie goes missing, Jim realizes there must be more to the two mysterious teachers and begins to do a little sleuthing himself. Jim and his older sister, Becky, go on an out of this world adventure to figure out the truth behind the funny language and its speakers.Mark Haddon is one of my favourite authors, and I was very excited to read his foray into children’s literature. Every single character in this novel, main or secondary, are perfectly developed and very hilarious. This story takes a very interesting turn after the first eight chapters, one I was not expecting in the least. This book is a hilarious, over the top, descriptive piece of British writing. I will be adding it to my personal collection, alongside Haddon’s adult works.Boom! is a revised version of Haddon's 1992 novel Gridzbi Spudvetch!, which was out of print. A teacher wrote to the author explaining she was reading the novel to her class and they loved it. She convinced Haddon to rerelease the book through letters, both from her and her students. Haddon reworked the novel for two main reasons: no one could pronounce the title and it had outdated references to floppy disks, cassette players, and Walkman’s.
    • 5/5
      Der 13 jährige Jimbo lebt mit seiner Familie in einem Hochhaus in ziemlich beengten Wohnverhältnissen. Das Verhältnis zu seiner älteren Schwester Lizzy ist nicht gerade freundschaftlich. Nach einem Streit mit ihm behauptet sie gehört zu haben, dass die Lehrer in der Schule darüber gesprochen hätten, dass Jimbo wegen schlechter Leistungen in eine Sonderschule versetzt werden solle. Nur sein Freund Charlie mit seinem abenteuerlichen Plan kann ihm helfen. Die Jugendlichen hören die Lehrer im Lehrerzimmer ab, um herauszufinden, ob Lizzy die Wahrheit gesagt hat. Dabei kommen sie einer mysteriösen Verschwörung auf die Spur. Zwei ihrer Lehrer sprechen in einer geheimnisvollen Sprache miteinander. Jimbo und Charlie verfolgen sie und geraten dabei auf den Planeten Plonk in einer fremden Galaxie. Das Abenteuer beginnt.Der britische Autor Mark Haddon verbindet in seiner verrückten Geschichte geschickt die Freundschaftsszenen von Jimbo und Charlie mit Science-Fiction-Szenen, in die der Leser wie in einen Strudel hereingezogen wird. Neben spannenden Szenen, man mag das Buch nicht mehr aus der Hand legen, geht es häufig auch sehr lustig zu.
    • 4/5
      This was a very good little read. My stack of “currently reading” books is almost bigger than my stack of “to be reads” so this was a nice break from a pile of books that is not grabbing my attention. This book did, if only for a short while.“There was an adventure on the way, a nuclear-powered, one-hundred-ton adventure with reclining seats and a snack trolley. And it was pulling into the station right now.”So begins the adventure of Jim and his friend Charlie. (“Charlie looked like a Victorian chimney sweep – pointy face, beady eyes, hair going in all directions, clothes a couple of sizes too large. Not that you’d really notice him.”) Jim is an average kid with average problems in school and at home…and he’s averagely bored. Until…he and Charlie hear two of their teachers talking in a very strange language.There is a strong essence of Daniel M. Pinkwater in “boom!” – at least there was for me. And I loved Pinkwater’s books growing up…still do, actually. There’s just a certain bent to this story, a particular kind of oddness that I very much enjoy. Maybe it’s a bit of snark used in conjunction with a very original game of “What If?”“My name is Ktop-p-paaçȏnii,” said the spider. “It will make a car crash in your mouth. But you can call me Britney.”As an adult, I enjoyed this book, but wasn’t engrossed by it. I think that might be a different story for children. There is enough every day detail about Jim’s life at the beginning for most kids to relate to before being drawn into the action.“I gazed at the panel of buttons. Maybe one of them opened the door. But which one? And what were the others for? Press the wrong one and I might be microwaved, or crushed. The tube might fill with water. Or sulphuric acid. Or cockroaches.”Sure beats math class…