Boom! by Mark Haddon

Book Information
Haddon, Mark. Boom! (or 70,000 light years). London: David Fickling Books, 2009.


My Summary and Review
Boom! is a fast-paced alien teacher sci-fi spoof by Mark Haddon, author of the bestseller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. James is having a hard time, and he is not all that interested in school. When James hears that he might be transferred to a different school, he and his friend Charlie bug the teachers' staff meeting and listen in. Instead of a regular meeting, however, he and Charlie soon hear some teachers speaking in an alien language. The adventures soon begin with a break-in, sinister brass bracelets, a cross-country motor bike trip and... space travel?

Readers will particularly enjoy the various science fiction references, from the light-bulg finger tips (E.T.?) to the aliens' strange speech and hover scooters. A funny, action-packed, breezy teen read. 

ALSC help question results

Recently, I put out a question to the ALSC listserv, asking:

"Can you recommend a science fiction book at grade four reading level?

It has to have aliens. The vocab can't be too difficult, as the student is in ESL (though the reading level she is around the fourth grade). The student really likes art."

The ALSC community came through, and I have created a new page on this blog, above the post, displaying the results. Happy Reading!

Taken by Edward Bloor

Summary

It's 2036, and there are two major industries in the United States: domestic service and kidnapping children. Charity Meyers wakes up on New Year's, 2036, to find that she has been abducted. Her parents have 12 hours to pay the ransom that should save her life. Charity spends her last terrifying hours locked into an ambulance with Dessi, a young kidnapper, who challenges her perceptions of domestic servants and the underprivileged. It soon becomes clear that, in Charity's world, all is not what it seems. Will she ever escape, and will life (as she knows it) return to normal?

Book Information
Taken by Edward Bloor. 2007. Tennessee: Random House.

My Review
Critically acclaimed author Edward Bloor takes suspense to the next level in his novel Taken. Charity Meyers is an easily likeably, naive, upright young girl who has been uprooted from her life by kidnappers, and who is already emotionally estranged from her parents. Also endearing is her captor Dessi, who becomes sympathetic during the story. The only point where this novel suffers is the ending, which is so startling and abrupt that it seems entirely implausible. On all other points, this novel is a fun, breezy read.